Something Happens
by Kegel
Summary: Greg is enjoying himself with an old friend, until things get out of hand and the situation worse than Greg ever imagined, and both he and Sara have to struggle through the aftermathes of it, together and for themselves. SaraGreg
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own them, and really, I'm not getting closer to it at all.

**Summary:** Greg is enjoying himself with an old friend, until things get out of hand and get worse than Greg ever imagined.

**Rating: **T

**A/N: **Thanks to Emmithar for the beta!

* * *

**Something Happens**

Chapter 1**  
**

Finding some kind of edible food, no matter if it was takeout or not, was Greg's only goal on a mild summer afternoon, when he was strolling through the inner part of Las Vegas, having just brought a tiring double shift behind him.

He had asked Sara if she wanted to go and grab some food together somewhere, but she rather traded another shift worth of work for that meal. Greg hoped that she did not want to tell him something with that decision.

Greg looked lazily at the shops at his right side, wandering slowly along the sidewalk. At least he would have the next two nights off. It was his birthday tomorrow after all, and this year he had decided to take that day off, if possible. His last birthday he had spent for the most part in the company of a decomp which had altogether made a gory scene. He did not want to count on his luck this year; Grissom would probably have an extra-nice scene for him as a present.

So he had taken it off, even if it meant that he would have no little birthday party with his co-workers. However, he was actually hoping some of them would drop by at his place, if they found the time that was.

Greg was just standing in front of two shops, deliberating between Greek takeout and Chinese takeout, when a man approaching him from his left side caught his attention. At the moment the man noticed him as well, and smiled.

"Hey, Greg," he called, and Greg was already waving to him.

"Hey, Charlie," he greeted him cheerfully, when the other man had stopped in front of him. "What are you doing around here?"

"Visiting a friend who I haven't seen for like a decade maybe?" Charlie laughed. Greg smiled. He and Charlie had not really been close at college, but had been friendly enough that Greg was happy to see him again.

"Wanna go for a drink?" he suggested.

"Sure." The other man looked around. "Do you know of a good place?"

"There's one right around the corner," Greg pointed at the end of the street. "I've been there a couple of times."

His friend agreed and some minutes later they had both seated in the bar, a first round of drinks being ordered. Greg did not plan on taking too much. Celebrating into his birthday was one thing; but he did not need the hangover when he had to go in for work again the following day.

"So how have you been doing?" he asked the other man who was nipping on a beer. He remembered that Charlie had not been much of a drinker at college. Neither had Greg, but Charlie had rather been known for hardly drinking at all.

"I've been doing okay. Been here and there," he shrugged. "You?"

Greg shrugged as well. "I've been working in Vegas for the most part." He did not feel like dissecting the details of his career with the other man. At least not right now. He took a sip from his own beer, wondering that Charlie had obviously not followed the straight career path Greg always assumed he would.

"Vegas… that's the city for the Greg we know, isn't it?" Charlie smirked.

Greg grimaced. "More or less I'd say."

"You miss the sea though, I guess?"

"Yeah," Greg admitted, nodding. He certainly missed some things in California and the beach and the sea were only two things of it, but he would not want to leave Las Vegas either. There were some things, or rather some people he would miss even more.

Greg chuckled quietly, when he thought that he would easily trade living at the Pacific for living with a certain brunette. If they ever got past that stage of casual flirting that was connected with a deep friendship. Which was actually a promising base, Greg thought. He chuckled again at himself, pulling then his thoughts off Sara and back to his old college friend.

"What have you been laughing at?" Charlie wanted to know.

"Nothing. Just me," Greg claimed, cheering to the other man before taking a large sip from his drink.

Several rounds of drinks followed and a couple of hours and way too many college stories later, Greg was leaning back in his chair relaxed.

"How comes you haven't settled down yet?" Charlie was asking now. "I'd think the girls have it for a guy like you."

Greg smiled sadly. "Not as much as I'd want," he stated. "I'm just a friend. A good listener. A good partner. The guy to go to when you need somebody to help you out," he rambled.

"A good start?" Charlie suggested.

"A good start maybe. But the story ends here. No second part follows," Greg shrugged. He downed another gulp, smiling to himself then. "There's this brunette…"

"And?"

"I tried, I really tried."

Greg hoped that he was only imagining the swing of desperation that sounded in his voice. He put his empty beer on the small table in front of him, shrugging again. "Whatever."

Greg did not notice that Charlie had leaned back and was watching Greg curiously, his expression thoughtful.

Greg tried to bring the conversation back to easier topics, and less personal ones. Greg did not have a problem to talk about all kinds of topics, but he did not really feel well talking about his sentiments for Sara to a man he did not really consider a close friend. If they were actually together, it would have been another situation, he would have gladly talked about her, but as things lied he was not inclined to it.

* * *

Later at night Greg was walking slowly into his apartment, wondering when he had given up the intention to not drink too much. He could be glad that he had the night off, as well as the next one. 

When he had said goodbye to Charlie, the other man had hinted that he might come over for Greg's birthday, maybe even planning something for the day. Greg was not opposed to it. He would still have the other day to rest, and his sense for harmless adventure had not left him. And it was definitely better than waiting at home that somebody from the lab might drop by.

Opening the fridge, Greg retrieved a bottle of water, admitting to himself that he was hoping Sara would come over. She had not hinted at any such thing recently, which had surprised him, since she had been talking about his birthday wishes some months ago. Now it seemed to have left her mind.

Greg did not make it into his bedroom anymore, or out of his clothes for that matter, but crashed onto the couch, trading the comfortableness of his bed for the immediate rest on the couch, resting his head somewhat comfortably on his arms.

He was woken up by the ringing of the bell, lifting his head groggily to gaze over the side of the couch. After his mind had caught up with the situation and the bell rang another time, Greg finally got up, walking toward the front door tiredly.

It was Charlie again who was standing outside. He seemed excited, and Greg thought that it was actually him who should be feeling this way, since it was his birthday which was still a special day for him, but maybe he was just too groggy for it.

Charlie started rambling something, and Greg had to stop him by lifting his hand, and ask him to start again because nothing what the other man said seemed to make sense. He had a definite hangover, Greg guessed, sighing inwardly.

"I have a surprise for you for your birthday," Charlie started again. "I rented a cabin out at the lake for a day… we could get two of those jet boats… stay overnight…you said you haven't planned anything for today… relieve old college days…"

"Okay, okay," Greg said confused, somewhat taken by surprise. "I'll just go and change," he pointed at his clothes from the previous day. "Get some stuff…"

"Okay."

Twenty minutes later both Greg and Charlie were sitting in Charlie's car, Greg's own car still standing parked in the city, since he had taken a taxi home the last night. Greg leaned back, looking out of the window, trying to relax and enjoy the day. He wondered since when he had started to ponder so much. He was just spending a fun day with an old friend; there was nothing wrong with it.

Charlie had not said anything for a few minutes, but when Greg turned to look at him, he noticed that his excitement seemed to have changed into nervousness, making Greg wonder.

"I'm not sure I did the right thing," Charlie said suddenly.

"It's great," Greg tried to ensure him. "Thanks for the trouble, really." He smiled at the other man, but Charlie's expression remained strained. They were already close to their destination when he spoke again.

"Wrong? Maybe it was wrong. But I wanted the right thing. And you wanted it too, didn't you? But it could mean so much trouble. I don't like it. But it's okay," he rambled, while Greg was only frowning, puzzled at the non-sensual rambling of his friend.

"What's up? Are you alright?" he asked slightly worried.

"You wanted it, Greg, right?"

"What?" Greg asked confused. "The trip, yeah, I agreed with it, but what's wrong?"

Charlie did not answer but took a side road that led them away from the main road, and soon he stopped near a cabin. Greg could see the lake not far away from the spot. His friend got out of the car and walked away some paces from the vehicle. Greg got out as well, watching the other man puzzled, wondering more and more what was wrong.

Charlie kept glancing back at the car and Greg grew more and more worried.

"It was wrong. Yeah, wrong," his friend said. "How do we get out of that again?" he seemed to ask himself as well as Greg.

"Out of what?" Greg wanted to know, walking over towards the other man. Charlie's gaze wandered to the car again, only this time Greg noticed that he was not looking at the whole car, but only at the trunk, and Greg had a terrible suspicion.

His heart beat faster at the imagination of what could be in the trunk, and at the fact that he was involved in the situation. But he had no choice; he had to find out what was in the trunk and what Charlie had done that made him rambling non-sensually.

Greg walked slowly towards the trunk, Charlie watching him nervously.

"I did it for you, Greg," he said shaking. Greg gulped and tried to calm himself. He stopped behind the car and laid his hand onto the trunk. There was no choice, he had to open it. Charlie's statement made only clearer that there was actually something; that there was actually a problem, a big one.

Greg opened the trunk carefully, having a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. The lid went up and Greg looked down into the trunk, and his stomach turned to ice, seeing the body of a woman lying inside.

"What have you done?" he asked his friend unbelievingly, not taking his eyes of the brunette. "What have you done?" he repeated quietly, reaching out to stroke Sara's lifeless face.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

_After an in-depth discussion with Emmithar on the meaning of the word "lifeless", I have to say that I did not want to imply that Sara was dead at the end of the last chapter. I saw it in another meaning, so cut the poor non-native speaker some slack. This is how we say it my language. :P Thanks to Emmithar for the beta and for the ev-, ehm... creative input into the story. _

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Greg reached into the trunk, trying to lift Sara carefully. It was not an easy task, but he had to get her out of there and he would not let come Charlie near her anymore. He was shocked at what his so-called friend had done, but he was only concerned with saving Sara. He did not even pay attention what Charlie was doing; his eyes were only on her.

She was unconscious, but Greg could not see any injuries, so she had probably been knocked out somehow, and he hoped it had not left any permanent damage. Charlie had bound her hands and feet, which did not make it easier to get her out. Greg gritted his teeth, seeing what Charlie had done to her.

After some seconds Greg had gotten a good grip on Sara and was pulling her carefully out of the vehicle. He did not like the idea of laying her onto the ground, but he did not have much of a choice, leaving her lying inside the trunk was definitely not an alternative.

"We have to get her to the hospital," he declared, hoping that Charlie would agree, as he would need his car.

"What? Why? No!" Charlie intervened. "I got her for you, Greg."

Greg could not believe what he was hearing, although nothing should really surprise him anymore after what Charlie had done to Sara. Greg laid her slowly onto the ground, hoping she would wake up. It would make things easier, even though the situation was horrible altogether.

"We have to get her to the hospital," he replied firmly. "And I can't believe what you have done, how you can think that I wanted that. That's completely over my head!" he yelled angrily. Greg could usually keep his calm, but the whole situation was driving him to his edge. He turned to Sara again, starting to work on the tape that bound her hands.

"You can't let her go. She'll go straight to the cops," Charlie warned him. Greg knew that this was true of course, but did not care in the slightest.

It came to his mind that Charlie did not even know that Greg worked for the crime lab, and Greg was definitely not going to tell him now. And as for the police finding out about Sara's abduction, it was Charlie who had done it; Greg would not feel sorry for him for a second; and they could not blame Greg, since he had had no idea of what Charlie had been doing. And even if they did, it was not Greg's biggest worry now. Getting Sara home safe and sound was the only thing on his mind.

"We have to get rid of her," Charlie continued, disappointment still sounding through his voice on Greg's apparent disapproval of his deed.

Greg's heart beat even faster at this announcement. He had to get Sara out of here.

"I'll get her to the hospital," he said firmly.

"No! No, stop, Greg. Leave her where she is or I'm going to kill her."

Greg thought his heart might collapse any moment, so fast was it beating, but he knew that he would be, and had to be, able to protect Sara.

"I'll get her out of here," he declared, looking at Charlie again. And was cursing himself for not having paid attention to what the other man was doing, for Charlie had retrieved a gun from somewhere, pointing it shaking at Sara now.

"You won't," he said.

"Don't do this," Greg pleaded, moving himself slowly in front of Sara. "If you kill her, the cops will be after you as well, and it will be for murder," he warned the other man.

"There's no connection between her and I. They'll never get me. She's just a random girl who I don't know."

"You don't know her?" Greg asked trembling, wondering whether this should give him hope or made everything only worse.

"No, I don't," Charlie was shaking his head as if it was a matter-of-course. "You said a brunette." He rubbed his forehead, holding the weapon only with one hand now. "I was hanging around near your place this morning and that's when I saw her… she's pretty, so I thought you'd like her," he rambled on, steadying the gun then.

Greg's mind was racing. On the question why Sara had been near his place he spent only a moment. It was a sharp sting though when he realized that she had maybe wanted to come over for his birthday, had been there for him.

He thought about how he could use the fact that Charlie did not know that Greg knew Sara, and that Sara knew him.

"Get out of the way, Greg," Charlie told him now, approaching him with the directed gun, but staying out of reach.

"No, I won't," Greg said decidedly. "If you shoot, you'll hit me," he said swallowing.

"I'd never hurt you, Greg," Charlie replied horrified. "You're my friend."

Greg was still trying to calm himself. He took a deep breath, before he suggested, "We could bring her to the hospital somehow. She does not know you… does not know us. They'll never find a connection to us." The other man seemed to ponder.

"Charlie, you said you're my friend, please do that for me," Greg asked hopefully.

"She doesn't know us… you're right…" Charlie said slowly, and the slightest bit of tension was going off Greg. He was hoping that things would turn to the good still. Or would at least come to a somewhat bearable end.

It was then he noticed that Sara was wincing and moaning slightly, and he feared what Charlie would do if he panicked when Sara woke up and made clear that she knew Greg. He hated himself only for the thought of what he was about to do, but Greg looked up at Charlie quickly.

"Do you have some cloth to gag her?" Greg hoped it would keep Sara from yelling out that she knew him, until he was able to tell her to remain silent, or at least until Charlie's gun was away as it was definitely the greatest source of danger.

Charlie threw him a piece of cloth that he had retrieved from the trunk of his car and seeing how ragged and dirty it was, Greg was even more horrified at the idea of putting this in Sara's mouth, but it was not like he had a choice.

He grabbed the cloth and was just tying it behind Sara's head carefully, when she opened her eyes. She looked at him, at first dazed for a moment, before the reality of the situation seemed to dawn on her, and she stared at Greg in horror.

Greg tried to bring both easement and an apology in his expression when he looked at her. She tried to move, but was nearly unable to, and muffled sounds were coming out of her mouth. Greg glanced at Charlie fearfully, hoping the other man would not freak.

"So what are we going to do now?" Charlie asked.

"Get her into the car and-," Greg started but the other man shook his head decidedly.

"Let's get her inside," he said, pointing at the cabin they had parked next to. "I have to think."

Greg did not like the idea, but once again he had not much of a choice. He had to keep Charlie calm, or nobody knew what was going to happen. He helped Sara to her feet, after he had removed the tape that had bound her legs. Charlie approached them and held the gun pointed at Sara's head.

"Go with him," he ordered, signing at Greg. Sara looked at the gun fearfully, and it was not before Greg pulled her into the direction of the cabin that she took her gaze of it. Now she gave Greg a look of utter disbelief and abhorrence, and Greg looked away in pain, back at the man he had formerly called his friend.

Once they were inside, Greg brought Sara to the couch that was standing at one end of the room, watching then uneasily how Charlie was binding her legs together again, without laying the gun out of his hand for a moment. Sara had long stopped trying to yell at them, only the expression of fear and disgust had remained.

Charlie strode quickly towards the door of the cabin, and Greg followed him, throwing a last glance at Sara who was avoiding his gaze now.

* * *

Sara had made sure to get off shift in time for once. Since Greg had decided to take work off on his birthday, she had planned on dropping by at his place. What she remembered was that she had parked her car only a street away from where Greg was living. After that it was black. 

Now she was lying somewhere on the cold, hard ground, not knowing how she had gotten there, her head hurting. She moaned softly and tried to open her eyes. Suddenly somebody was bringing a disgusting material into her mouth. Sara finally opened her eyes. It took her a moment before her gaze focused and she could see Greg looking down at her, while he was tightening the knot of the gag.

These were the facts Sara's brain registered, although they seemed to be absurd. She had to be in some terrible nightmare. Or she had lost her mind. The pain in her head was definitely too real for a nightmare.

She stared at Greg, and wondered if it was sorrow she saw in his eyes. What was he doing? Why was he doing that? Sara did not, could not understand. She was not even really afraid, for she knew that Greg would never do anything to her. But what was it then what was happening now?

She tried to move, but failed, tried to yell at him, ask him what he was doing, what he was thinking, but only muffled sounds left her mouth. Greg looked away and Sara could hear another man speaking. Greg was not alone. There was somebody else in it. Sara closed her eyes briefly, telling her heart beating to slow down, hoping for her breath to calm. It felt still too unreal; all of this could not be happening.

Greg and the other man seemed to discuss what to do. Then Greg was pulling her to her feet. She swayed slightly, but he was holding her, keeping her from falling. His touch was careful, avoiding grabbing her too tightly. And she still did not understand. And she had always thought she would be able to figure out everything somehow.

Sara could see the other man now, and had the urge to draw back fearfully when she saw him approaching her with a gun in his hand which he was pointing at her head. Her breathing fastened again in fear. He was not going to shoot her, was he? Why was Greg not doing anything? Why was Greg doing what he was doing?

"Go with him," the man told her. Sara's gaze was fixed at the gun. Then Greg pulled her forward and she turned to look at him. More and more she began to think that it was not her who had lost her mind, but Greg. Greg was doing this to her and it made no sense. It was real, so much she had to realize shaking, but it was not anything she would ever comprehend.

Inside the cabin Greg made her sit onto the couch that was standing on the far end of the room. The other man came and bound her legs again; Sara would have wanted to kick him, hinder him from doing what he was, but the gun in his hand made her lie still. She was afraid now. She had not been earlier when she had thought Greg was alone in this. Greg would never do this to her. Greg would never hurt her. But now together with the other man he was doing so.

Her mind seemed still to explode, trying to process this fact. She just could not believe it. Greg's friend was leaving for the exit quickly and Greg followed him. He was glancing back at Sara, but she did not look at him. She could not anymore. She could not watch Greg do this anymore.

* * *

Charlie stopped outside of the door, and Greg quickly caught up to him. 

"What do you want to do? We have to get her to the hospital. Didn't we agree on that?" Greg wanted to know, cursing himself that he had let it come so far to let him bring Sara inside.

Charlie was fiddling with the gun, not answering on Greg's question immediately.

"And how do you want to do that?" he asked suddenly after a minute.

"We get her into your car, drive over to Desert Palms where they can check her over…" Greg started.

"So we just walk in with her there and let them call the cops or what?"

Greg was getting desperate, trying to find a solution Charlie was going to accept.

"We could just drop her off somewhere," Charlie suggested now. "Somebody will find her sometime and we'll be long gone then."

"No," Greg said resolutely. They could not let Sara leave alone somewhere, waiting for somebody to find her. There were too many incalculable risks linked to that, and too many horrible fears of what could happen.

Suddenly Charlie cocked the gun, and strode the few paces over to the entrance of the cabin. "I'll just kill her and the problem is solved," he decided fervently.

"No, don't do that. We'll find a solution," Greg called desperately, stopping Charlie in his movement. "Just let me think a moment, please."

"Why do you care so much for her?" Charlie asked frowning. "Do you know her?" he added in a sharp tone.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Thanks to Emmithar for the beta! _**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Do you know her?" Charlie repeated his question.

Greg shook his head slowly. "No, I don't. Do you?" He hoped he sounded convincing.

Charlie shook his head as well. "I told you I didn't. So why are you so concerned for her if you don't know her?"

"You don't understand it, do you?" Greg returned irritated. He had realized this day that he knew Charlie even less than he had believed. They had never been close. Charlie had used to be rather quiet and drawn back, but at the same time not as scientifically interested as Greg, so that they had shared hardly anything at college, only hanging out from time to time.

Now Greg wished he knew him better. Not because he had any desire to be better acquainted with him, but because it might have helped getting him, and Sara, out of this situation, if he had known what was going on in Charlie's head.

"So what do you want to do now?" Charlie asked, ignoring Greg's angry statement. "She's all yours."

Greg's face hardened, but he moved past Charlie to the door of the cabin, turning around to look at the other man again.

"What are you waiting for? Have fun," Charlie shrugged.

Greg actually considered punching him, but realized that the gun in the other man's hand made that one a very bad idea, as Charlie might stray off his earlier promise that he would never hurt Greg if attacked this way. And it would not even help them. Greg turned back to the door sighing, a desperate plan forming in his mind.

He closed the door behind him, hoping Charlie would stay outside. Sara had apparently been watching him, but looked away once he glanced over at her. Greg approached her slowly, his mind racing what to say and what to do.

Sara glanced up at him, seeming now more angry than afraid. Greg crouched down next to her.

"Please promise me not to yell and not to tell him that we know each other," he asked her. Sara only stared at him. "Promise me that, and I'll get rid of the gag, okay?"

Sara looked at him for another moment before she nodded reluctantly. Greg reached out behind her head and started to untie the gag, his hands trembling so that he needed longer for the task than he wanted.

Once the cloth was gone, Sara blurted, "What on earth are you doing?" She obviously had to force herself to speak quietly.

"I'm so sorry. It wasn't me. It was him, Charlie. I have no idea why he did that; he's sick in his mind."

Sara did not defer to Greg's apology. "Get me out of here," she told him fiercely instead, struggling against the tape on her wrists and ankles. She glanced nervously into the direction of the door and Greg could not blame her. For a moment he could see the fear again that had been hidden under her anger at him.

Greg jumped up. "Be right back." He strode over to the door of the cabin, opening it carefully and glancing outside if he could see Charlie anywhere. He moved quietly out of the building, looking around.

He was just about to re-enter, when he stumbled forward without warning and crashed headfirst against the door, dropping to the ground unconsciously.

* * *

They had been outside for a while. Sara had tried for several minutes to free herself from the restraints, but had to realize that she was only hurting herself, when the tape cut into her skin but stayed intact. She was still suppressing the fear inside her, since she could not imagine that Greg would do anything to her.

She had no idea what they were planning to do, why they were holding her captive, but she had still the hope to get out comparatively unscratched, although the gun had frightened her, had made her wonder if they were only using it to scare her, or if they intended to kill her.

The more she thought about it, the less sense it made, but the more she was afraid, since Greg and the other man would certainly not want her to get free and be able to turn them in. She knew Greg, they were co-workers, friends actually she had thought, there was no question she would be able to turn him in, no doubt she would be able to tell who it had been. So they would have to get rid of her.

Once again trying to get her hands free, she let out a muffled curse, before she could see the door being opened again and Greg walking in. Sara watched him for a moment, until he looked at her and she turned her gaze away.

He came up to her slowly, and Sara tried to calm herself from the anger that was more and more rising inside her. She was afraid, yes, but she was also more than angry at the man she had thought she could trust, and the fact that he seemed to have lost his mind. She looked up at him again, and Greg crouched down next to the couch.

"Please promise me not to yell and not to tell him that we know each other," he told her quietly. Sara glared at him. What on earth was he talking about? How could he come and ask that from her? If she was able to yell, it would be her good right to do so, hoping somebody would hear her and call for help. She would not keep quiet, what was he thinking?

"Promise me that, and I'll get rid of the gag, okay?" he asked again. Sara was still angry, but figured that it would be at least a start to be able to talk. She wanted to scream at him, but at the end he would only gag her again. And maybe she would be able to talk him out of this insanity. So she nodded reluctantly.

Greg reached behind her head, fiddling with the knot on the cloth. It took him a long time and Sara only wanted him to be away from her. When the cloth was finally away, she had to suppress the yell that wanted out of her.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asked him rather quietly instead.

"I'm so sorry. It wasn't me. It was him, Charlie. I have no idea why he did that; he's sick in his mind," Greg babbled, and Sara did not understand what he was talking about. Of course it was him. He was holding her captive. He and the so-called Charlie had kidnapped her, had brought her out here in their trunk.

"Get me out of here," Sara told Greg angrily, struggling again against the bounds. She looked over at the door of the cabin fearfully, figuring that the greater danger came from Greg's friend, since she hoped that the bond between her and Greg was still strong enough that he would not hurt her, that he would let her go in the best case.

Greg stood up. "Be right back," he muttered and walked quickly to the door. He opened it and looked outside, before he left the cabin, and vanished out of Sara's sight.

He did not return for several minutes and the small hope that had built inside of Sara was dashed again. Greg did not want to let her go. She did not know what he was going to do with her. She did not know how much time she had, but she had to try and draw the attention of somebody to her.

She did not even come so far as to let out a yell for help, when all of a sudden everything became black.

* * *

It was the sudden impact that woke her up. Dazed at first Sara realized that she was lying on cold, scrubby ground. Her hands were still bound behind her back and her arms felt like on fire after having been forced into this position for too long.

Sara could hardly see anything. It was obviously at night and she was at some woody place that was only lit sparsely by the back lights of the car that was standing only few feet away from where Sara was lying. She figured that they had just thrown her out of it, an assumption that was strengthened when she heard the lid of a trunk being slammed shut.

She could hear steps crouching in the underbrush. She was trembling heavily, not knowing whether it was because of the coldness that was creeping in her from the ground or out of fear what was going to happen. They were still here. They had brought her out here. She was shaking, wishing they would just leave, leave and let her lie there. It was better than the alternative she was fearing.

She could not control the trembling anymore and neither the wet that came from her eyes, streaming down her face, her forehead lying on the ground. Sara was scared, and she wanted Greg to come and stop the insanity he was doing, to come and help her and she might even consider forgiving him in the very distant future, if he only helped her.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thanks to Emmithar for the beta, and thanks for all the comments so far, I enjoy reading what you think! **_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Sara could neither stop the trembling nor the tears, trying to listen what was going on but the only thing she realized was that Greg was not helping her. The ground felt cold as ice under her heated skin; she heard again steps behind her.

"Greg, please…," she sobbed.

"Greg's not here," a voice that she recognized as the other man's cut in. "He didn't want you," he added harshly.

Sara lay just still. Greg was not even there. He had left her alone in the hands of that man. The last tidbit of hope she had had was gone.

She heard the slamming of a car door and then the roaring of an engine. Sara tensed panicking, turning herself on her back arduously, lifting her head to see what was going on. He wouldn't… The car moved forward and slowly away from where Sara was lying who breathed relieved. Soon no light of the vehicle was to see anymore and Sara was alone.

Charlie was gone and first there was just the relief. He was gone and he had left her there, alive, at least for now. Even the fact that she was lying somewhere alone without an actual possibility to get away did not lessen Sara's relief at first.

The fear came back later, the fear what would happen if nobody ever found her, if she was not able to free herself.

Sara tried for the umpteenth time to get rid of the tape on her hands, but failed once again. She sat up fully, cursing. If she could at least see anything, she could have made out where she was, could have seen if there was something near her that could help her freeing herself.

Painfully slowly she moved to the side, finally reaching the trunk of a tree. She leaned against it, realizing that she did not have much of a choice than to wait for the morning. Then she would at least be able to see where exactly she was and if she had the possibility of getting away. And maybe, just maybe, somebody would find her. She could not give up quite yet.

Sara even managed to drift off into a light slumber, the exhaustion and tiredness overcoming her. The thoughts and fears swirling through her head did not let her rest though, so she was soon fully awake again, pondering over everything that had happened. Everything seemed like a nightmare, and it had not ended yet.

Sara thought of Greg, still unable to comprehend what he had done and why. She remembered what Charlie had said before he had left. It really registered in her brain only now.

Realization dawned on her which made her feel more lightly. She was still trapped in this nightmare, but at least she could comprehend more of it now. Charlie's last statement had been meant to hurt her, but now that its actual meaning had registered in her, it eased Sara's mind, even though it did not get her out of here.

She waited and the coldness of the night was still creeping into her. Sara shivered, drawing her legs to her chest. She rolled in as best as she could in her position, still leaning against the trunk. She could not keep her eyes open and there was not a point in it anyway, so she gave in to the exhaustion once again, hoping the day would come soon.

Sara had not noticed that she had fallen asleep, but woke up when she could feel something climbing over her. The excited barking had melted with her nightmare and she realized only when she opened her eyes that it was indeed a dog that was jumping around her.

Sara jolted up stunned, looking at the animal.

"She's alive," a voice gasped out then, and Sara looked up further to see an old man standing a few paces behind the dog. "Well, it's not what you would expect, you know," he explained bluntly.

* * *

Greg opened his eyes and shut them quickly again when the bright light was blinding them, wondering why the curtain was not drawn over as it usually was when he was sleeping during the day.

The next thing he wondered was why he was sleeping on the couch and why he was not undressed. Then the memories came back out of nothing, and Greg sat up shocked.

Sara. Where was she? What had Charlie done?

Greg could not even remember coming home. The last thing he could recall was that he had looked if the coast was clear to get Sara out.

He was still in the same clothes he had worn then, so much he could tell. And they were stinking, he noticed, sniffing at his sleeve. They smelled like alcohol. But he had not been drinking…

Greg looked around and saw a letter lying on the small table near the couch. He stood up and reached for it, opening it quickly.

_Hey Greg,_

_I've taken care of everything. Don't worry about it anymore. _

_Your neighbor really thought you were passed out from drinking, even helped me with bringing you in here and told me to wish you a late Happy Birthday._

_I hope we'll see each other again some time and will have more fun then._

_So long, Charlie_

Greg let the letter fall shocked. What had Charlie done to Sara? He had not killed her, had he?

Greg was crying by now. He sat back onto the couch, sobbing. It was his fault. If Sara was dead, it was his fault. Charlie had kidnapped her because of him, had probably killed her because of him and he, Greg, had not hindered him from it. He had not helped Sara; he had left her alone, had left her in the hands of the maniac who was his friend.

Greg was sobbing desperately, his forehead pressed into the couch, feeling as if the pain was ripping him apart.

After several minutes he heard the distant sound of the ring tone of his cell phone and started wondering where it was. He had taken it with him to his and Charlie's trip and was surprised that Charlie had obviously brought it back with him.

Shaking Greg got up and looked around, seeing finally the small bag he had packed for the trip standing near the door. He strode over quickly, rummaging through the bag and taking out his singing and vibrating cell phone.

He could not believe his eyes when he was reading the caller's ID. Sara. Greg swallowed. Was it really her or was it somebody who had found her phone? He had to pick up to find out.

Whoever the caller was, they were not giving up as the phone continued ringing for several more seconds, before Greg finally picked up.

"Hello?" he spoke into the phone asking.

"Greg?" he could hear Sara's voice.

"Sara!" Greg leaned against the wall behind him, relieved.

"It's me," Sara confirmed quietly. "I'm… I'm at the lab," she continued. "Come over please, we need to talk." It was not a request, but a demand, and Greg could not blame her.

"I'll come," he said dejectedly. He was glad that she was alive and apparently well, although he did not know if she was hurt. And he would now have to face the consequences of everything.

"Don't take too long," Sara added, before she cut the call off without another word.

Greg shut off the call as well, letting the phone sink. It was of course no surprise that Sara had gone straight to the lab, turning him in. What else was she supposed to do? He did not know how he she had gotten free, he doubted that Charlie had simply let her go. Unless Charlie had confessed to her that Greg had not known about the kidnapping, which Greg doubted very much, Sara could not assume anything else as that Greg and Charlie had been in it together.

Greg stood up slowly, deciding that he should at least change his clothes. Whatever was waiting for him at the lab, it would not make a good impression if he turned up smelling as if he had tried to drink up courage for the crime. He bagged the worn clothes though, hoping he would maybe be able to proof that Charlie had brought him home unconsciously.

Maybe they would not accuse him for the full range of what had happened. Greg was feeling guilty for what he had done to Sara, even though it was in an attempt to save her. He had hurt her and he doubted that he would ever forgive him that.

It somewhat surprised him that Sara actually trusted him that he would come to the lab, that she had not sent somebody to get him. After all he had done, she could not expect of him to do the right thing.

Greg was just walking out of his apartment when he remembered that his car was still standing parked in the city where he had left it the other night.

He finally arrived later at the lab than Sara would think appropriate, since he had to call a cab, but she had definitely heavier reasons to be angry at him. He could not wait to see her again, and was afraid of it at the same time. Afraid to see that he was hurt, afraid to be confronted with any sentiment she might have towards him, even though they were justified. And afraid of everything else.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Thanks to Emmithar for the beta!_**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

It did not take Greg long to find Sara. She was sitting on a bench, the hallway deserted except for her. She was not looking his way, so Greg called her name quietly as he approached her slowly. She looked up at him, watching him for a moment, before she signaled to him to get a seat as well.

Greg dropped down at the other end of the bench, throwing careful side glances at her, needing to make sure that she was alright.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine," she replied and he understood it as a sign that she did not want to tell him how she was really feeling.

"How did you…?"

Sara pulled the jacket she was wearing tighter around her, making Greg wonder why she was apparently feeling so cold. When she lifted her arms, he could see the bruises on her wrists from where she had been bound, that had been hidden by the long-sleeved shirt she was wearing. Greg had the hardest time keeping his feelings under control. It had been partly his doing.

"He dropped me off near Lake Mead," Sara started to explain. "A man who went on a walk with his dog found me this morning."

"Sara, I'm so sorry-"

"Greg, stop it," Sara intervened sharply. "That's not why I asked you to come here."

Greg looked at her sadly.

"Listen and tell me that it was like this," she asked him and Greg nodded.

"Charlie took you on a trip. You did not know what he was up to. Once you were at the cabin you found out that he had kidnapped me," Sara was telling all these fact in a cold, neutral tone that was almost scaring Greg.

"You didn't know what to do and played along to keep him calm. You didn't want me to yell out that I knew you and gagged me. You brought me into the cabin, trying to find a solution. When he found out that you were trying to get me out, Charlie knocked you out. He did the same with me and dropped me off some miles away, leaving me basically to either be found or to die there," Sara's voice had become quieter now and Greg was barely holding himself together.

"Did it happen like that?" Sara asked now. "Tell me that you did not know what he was up to, that you did not do that to me!" The neutral tone had left Sara now completely, and the last words almost vanished into a sob. She cried and Greg just wanted to hold her but knew that this was the last thing he could do.

He could only watch her, until she had calmed down some minutes later. Then she leaned back, turning to look at Greg teary.

"It was like that. I didn't know what Charlie was up to," Greg confirmed quietly and Sara nodded. "I'm so sorry I hurt you," he continued sadly. "He wanted to kill you and I tried to keep him calm, tried to keep you from telling him that you know me. I was afraid he'd kill you if he knew. I'm so sorry."

Sara nodded again. She sniffed, before she continued. "Okay, this is what we're going to do: You don't know anything. You were not involved in any way. I know only that a perp kidnapped me and finally dropped me off. I don't know why he did that. A far as I can tell he didn't have any accomplices."

"Sara, what-?"

"I came here and told somebody from dayshift what happened, asked them to call Catherine for the investigation because I "trust" her and everything; she can return me a favor. Don't ask. She's not here yet. Any traces they might find on me from you are there because you held me, and calmed me while we were waiting," Sara spoke very quickly, and that was not the only reason why Greg could hardly follow.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked helplessly.

Sara looked at him for a minute. "You're my best friend," she started then. "It was terrible, yes, I was scared, I wondered why you were doing that, I was afraid of you even. But now I just want this nightmare to be over. I don't want to see my best friend going through all that," she made a small wave into the direction of the lab.

"But I hurt you," he whispered.

"Yeah, but only to save me."

"Then let me tell them that."

"And what if they don't believe you?" Sara questioned.

"They will believe it if you tell them as well."

"And what if they think I just want to protect you?"

"Isn't that what you're doing?" Greg pointed out quietly, a defeated tone in his voice. They could just do what she was suggesting, but it did not feel right to Greg and he did not want to think of what would happen if they ever found out that Sara had been lying. He could not risk that.

"Yes, Greg, I am protecting you. And I do that because you are my friend and because you saved my life and because it would rip out my heart to see you going through that," Sara had a hard time keeping her voice down, but forced herself to it, knowing that somebody working in the lab could possibly hear her talking otherwise.

Greg nodded gravely. Sara had slid over to him in the meantime, sitting now directly next to Greg. She took his hand in hers and Greg was surprised by the gesture.

"Just that we get this right," he started quietly. "What if they get Charlie?" He would of course spill that Greg had been in it, would maybe even accuse Greg of being the one who had come up with it.

"He's crazy and randomly accuses a CSI he's seen me with."

"His car?" Greg continued.

"Even if there are traces from you, it doesn't link you directly to the kidnapping. You could just admit that you are friends and he took you for a ride. In the best case they'll never know that you were involved at all."

"It's complicated and it's all lies," Greg stated. "I always thought you hate lies."

Sara swallowed. "I do." She did not look at him.

"I can't risk that. I can't let you put yourself in line to protect me," Greg said decidedly.

"I can risk it. And it's my decision," Sara opposed him.

"Okay," Greg gave in. "We'll do what you want. You're right; it's your decision." He had to admit that he was relieved of course. He did not like all the lies they were going to tell, he knew it was not right, but he was relieved. And if Sara wanted it, he would follow her wishes.

She leaned against him, laying her head against his shoulder. "I can't lose you."

Greg did not know what to say, but was saved from an answer when Catherine came walking up to them some moments later. Sara jumped up and Catherine stopped next to them.

"Sara, what happened?"

Sara hesitated. "Can we go somewhere more private to talk about it?"

Catherine looked from Sara to Greg puzzled.

"It's okay. I told Greg, but I'd like to go somewhere else please," Sara explained. Catherine looked at her worriedly. Sara glanced back at Greg. "Can you wait for me please?"

"Sure," Greg nodded. Catherine and Sara left and Greg leaned back, rubbing his eyes. It was insane. Everything was completely insane. He groaned at the imagination of the situation he and Sara were in now, what all they would have to conceal. He wondered if they would ever be able to go back to normal.

He waited and after a while his stomach started to rumble and Greg tried to remember when he had eaten the last time. Hoping Sara would not come back just now and think he had left, he hurried out of the lab and to the store at the other side of the street, buying two sandwiches.

He had just dropped back onto the bench and bitten once into his sandwich, when Sara returned, an earnest expression on her face. Greg jumped up again, handing her the other sandwich.

"Thanks," she said simply, taking it.

Greg looked at her curiously. "Is everything okay?"

"Nobody will know," she replied in a final tone. "Can you drive me home?" she asked then.

"My car's somewhere in the city," Greg replied in an excusing tone.

"Well, my car is still parked near your place," Sara returned sharply.

"You-?"

"I wanted to spend your birthday with you, Greg. This is not like I had imagined it though," she told him, sighing.

"I'm so sorry."

"Me too." Sara hugged him. "A late Happy Birthday though, Greg."

"Thanks."

Sara let go of him. "I guess I can take a taxi home."

"I can come with you. I don't really want you going alone…" Greg trailed off.

Sara lifted her eyebrows. "Are you planning on following me around now all the time?"

"No, of course not," Greg shook his head sadly. "I can understand that you don't want me to-"

"It wasn't meant like that," Sara intervened. "But I can take care of myself… unless some maniac…" She shook her head, stopping him from whatever he was going to say. "Let's go."

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Thanks to Emmithar for the beta. **_

_**Please leave a review on your way out. Greg and Sara will thank you. (The question is: Am I really nicer to them when I get a lot of comments?)**_

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**Chapter 6**

Sara was lying awake on her bed, still fully dressed, staring at the ceiling. Now that she was lying there, everything seemed just like a terrible nightmare. It had actually happened though, the bruises on her arms and legs were telling a clear story of that. She was still very sore and had readily agreed to take a few days off.

She did not really know yet how she was going to live and work with the web of lies she had told. But it had been necessary to protect Greg.

He had jut left half an hour ago. He had brought her to her front door where he had said goodbye, closing the door behind her. She wondered how they were ever supposed to go back to normal. He was feeling guilty and she could not forget the hours in that she had been afraid of what he was going to do to her. She knew now that he had never intended to hurt her, but forgetting was still not easy.

She could still feel the coldness and the fear in the wood where she had been lying during the night, scared and shivering, wondering how Greg could have done that to her, until she realized that he had not, until she had figured that it had been Charlie's doing.

It had not been Greg's fault. It had not been his doing. He had tried to protect her. And that was why she had to protect him now. She had just wanted to spend the day with him, have a good time for once. If she had not been there…

If she had understood Greg right, she had been a random target. So if she had not been there… this thinking was futile, she knew that. It had been a nightmare, but it was over now. She had to make sure that it was over. She had to protect Greg, had to ensure that the nightmare would not be prolonged because she was not doing enough…

Sara opened her eyes and what she saw made her cry out, but the sound was muffled because of the gag. She was back in the wood, the coldness still creeping into her bones. It was broad daylight now that came only partly into the shadowed part where Sara was lying though. She was close to panicking, once again struggling against the bonds. This could not be true. She had been found. She had been back at the lab. She had been talking to Greg. She had been home.

She could not still be in this nightmare. She dropped back on the ground in exhaustion, crying quietly now, realizing she would never escape. She felt so cold, she could not remember when she had eaten or drunk the last time; if she was not found soon, it was only a matter of time until she would die.

Her next few struggles to get free were not even determined anymore, for she had realized in all her previous failed attempts that she would not be able to free herself. She could not even yell, the cloth in her mouth still preventing her from it.

Sara could not quite wrap her mind around that fact, for she could not remember being gagged when Charlie had brought her out here, when he had left. Had she not been calling for Greg then? And had Charlie not answered her coldly?

Sara sat up again, deciding to at least try to lean against the trunk of a tree. She would at least be able to see something then. Maybe she would see somebody. And maybe she would be able to draw somebody's attention to her after all.

It took a while, but then Sara was really able to see somebody coming into her direction in the distance. Sara's hopes grew and she kept watching the person coming closer. She could see that it was a man.

Her stomach tightened fearfully when she recognized the man. She looked quickly around if there was a place where she could hide since she could not run. Now she did not want to be seen. She did not want to sit there like on a silver plate waiting for them to finish her off after all. Nausea was coming up at that thought, even more so at the thought of Greg doing that.

But he had seen her and fastened his step now, finally running up to her, Sara only staring at him. Greg slowed down and crouched down next to her. He was removing the gag, loosening the bounds as well, at the same time mumbling things Sara was not able to understand. But the moment she was able to move again, she jumped up, although her body felt as if it did not quite belong to her.

Then she ran. She did not know where she was running; her only intention was to get away from Greg. Once she had accomplished that, she would be able to look for a way home, a way out.

Greg was calling after her. And she should have reckoned it that he was faster than her. After the first surprise of her running away, he had taken after her, and soon she could hear him calling her name, telling her to stop, little behind her. Then he caught her arm, effectively stopping her.

She jerked around, trying to get free again, but Greg was still holding her arm tightly.

"You hurt me," she said, and to her surprise Greg released her arm.

"Sara."

She stared at him fearfully, at the same time anger was rising in her. Anger at what he had done, and anger at the fact that the two of them were out there, apparently in the middle of nowhere. And she started to get angry because she could be now.

"Please don't run away," Greg pleaded, reaching out to her again, but she backed away.

Sara was angry now. She wanted to yell at him, kicking herself though for the fear she was still feeling. He was alone, apparently unarmed. There was not anything he could do to her, was there? So why was she still afraid?

He was making a step towards her again.

"Stay away," she hissed, realizing that there were still many things he could do to her, especially in the weakened state she was. And she made some more steps backwards, away from him. She still could not believe that she was afraid of Greg, had to be afraid of him, something she would have never dreamt she would ever have to be.

Sara bit on her lip, trying to avoid the symptoms of sadness being added to all the emotions that were already tormenting her. Greg was watching her backing away.

"Sara, I want to help you. I won't hurt you," he told her now.

She did not believe him. Her eyes were darting around, still trying to find a way for her away from him and his lies. She took another step backwards, but this time her foot caught in a root of a tree and she fell backwards. A small cry escaped her before her head hit against something hard…

Sara was holding her head. It was pounding painfully. It was still light day and this time she was not even surprised to find herself lying on her bed, still fully dressed. She had not changed into her pajamas after all.

It took another moment before she noticed that her cell phone on the bedside table was ringing. The caller's ID told her quickly that it was Greg who was trying to call her. Reading his name on the display, the images and feelings of her nightmare instantly returned.

Sara groaned. Obviously the nightmare would not end as quickly as she had hoped, if it was following her into her sleep.

The phone was still ringing in her hand, and Sara finally picked up.

"Sara?" she heard his voice. "It's Greg."

"What's up?" she asked, remembering her dream. Why had she been afraid of him? Why had she been running from him?

"I… I just wanted to make sure you're doing okay."

Sara did not answer. It had been an irrational fear. He had wanted to protect her.

"Sara?" his voice sounded worried, bringing her back to the present. "Are you okay?"

Sara breathed out slowly. "I am, Greg." She could almost hear the doubt in his silence.

"Sara, do you really want to do this? I don't want to get you into trouble." She did not have to ask what he was talking about. She hated lies. But if that was the only way to protect him…

"Yeah," she replied. "It's too late to go back anyway," she added, biting on her tongue then, for she knew that she had shown her doubts with this addition.

"It's not too late. We can still tell the truth," he sounded faint.

"We can't," she returned. "I can't," she paused. "I can't turn you in, Greg." And at the same time she was racking her brain to find a solution.

But she could not do it. If she went and told that she had been abducted, that Greg had participated in it, that she had finally found out that he had not known about it, that he had protected her, that he had saved her, they would in the best case believe her and Greg would be fine.

In any other case though they would think she was only saying it to protect him, or because she was afraid, or even because she was not right in her head. They would arrest him, interrogate him, charge him… Sara did not want to think about having to see him go through all of that. If she could not convince them that Greg had not known about, had not wanted the abduction, but that he had saved her, he would be lost.

Sara realized that she had not spoken for a long time, but Greg was still on the other side of the phone. She could not do it, she knew that. It had to stay her and Greg's secret.

"Talk to you later, Greg," she finally said, switching off her phone, realizing that she was probably cutting everything off he had still wanted to say.

Sara felt alone. She could not talk to anybody. She felt alone with all the thoughts running in her mind. And the only person she could talk to… she had still to convince herself that she was not afraid of him. It was an irrational fear of her nightmares. She was not afraid. She felt safe with him. He was her friend. That was why she was saving him now. Even though she hated what she was doing. And everything made her feel alone, while she was still telling herself that she was not afraid.

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N: So I'm at home sick insert frustration here and thought I could update again now that this site seems to send out alerts again. Thanks for your reviews and thanks to Emmithar for the beta._**

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**Chapter 7**

"Sara, please tell us from the very beginning what happened. We can go slowly, if you want to," Brass explained her. Sara nodded in the small private room of the Las Vegas Police Department that Brass had led her in, Catherine being present as well.

Right now Sara did not have a problem talking about what had happened at all. She did not feel affected by it, knowing that this would probably come later. Right now she was much too focused on keeping Greg out of the matter, on telling nothing wrong, to feel that way.

She had given Catherine only a short statement the other day, and the blonde had taken samples from her, deciding then to give Sara the chance to rest before they would meet up again at the PD the next morning.

Sara knew that the search for Charlie was on, but she did not have a clear idea what leads the crime lab and the police had.

She started to tell them what had happened, Brass asking question for clarification from time to time. It was not too difficult to keep Greg out of it; nothing of what had happened could not have happened without him. She had thought about it and was telling Brass and Catherine now the story she had made up which was basically telling the truth, only she did not mention that Greg had been there, what Greg had done. She only mentioned Charlie.

When she had finally finished telling how she had been found and returned to the lab in the following, Catherine and Brass were looking at her quietly, apparently wondering, amazed even maybe at Sara's obvious calmness. They did not know that Sara was concentrating on staying calm because she needed to focus, focus on not saying a wrong word.

"Do you have idea about the motive?" Catherine asked finally.

Sara shook her head. She realized she would have to talk with Greg about it. He might know. She had gotten the feeling that everything had happened because of him, for him. She had not been able to look into Charlie's crazy mind. Maybe Greg could tell her. But there was nothing she could tell Brass and Catherine.

"Did he… hurt you?" Brass asked quietly, and Sara figured what he was wanting to know.

Once again she shook her head. "Not that I know of," she admitted though.

She was pretty sure that nothing had happened. She hoped Greg would be able to fill the gaps, the times in that she had been unconscious. She realized that she would have to talk to him; hanging up on him when he was calling was not going to be a way to achieve that.

When Sara was apparently not going to say anything more, Catherine opened a file she had brought.

"The samples I took from you… the DNA testing came back with four different DNA sets: yours of course, Greg's, the DNA of the man who found you, and an unknown fourth," she told them.

"Charlie," Sara said.

"You know his name?" Brass wondered. Sara realized that she had never brought it up so far.

"I… I think he mentioned it." It had been Greg of course who had told her his name.

Brass looked somewhere between surprised and amused.

"Did he give a surname?" he asked incredulously.

Sara shook her head. Greg would most certainly be able to tell it if they were really friends, but that was information she could not disclose.

"Can you give a description of him?"

This time Sara nodded. Soon a woman had been called who seated herself with Sara at a computer, starting a program that would help them making a picture. Sara described Charlie as well as she could, but was finally rubbing her forehead frustrated, for it was Greg's face that was constantly popping into her mind, her brain apparently trying to forget Charlie's.

"Do you need a break?" she was asked and Sara negated that.

After they were finally finished, Catherine offered to take her home.

"I'd like to go to Greg's actually," Sara stated. They needed to talk. She needed him to fill the gaps in her mind, to answer the why, if he could.

"I'll get you over there," Catherine declared and Sara only nodded.

Some minutes later Sara leaned back in the passenger's seat of Catherine's car while the blonde started the engine, pulling from the parking lot into traffic smoothly. Catherine turned the radio on, glancing at Sara briefly.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Sara wanted to know. It had been in the back of her mind.

"Sure," the blonde agreed. Sara was searching for the right words, before she started.

"Can we keep this between us? I mean I don't want to spread it in the whole lab…"

Catherine was silent for a moment before she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that won't work, didn't work, actually."

Sara looked at her sharply. "What do you mean?"

"By last night half the dayshift knew about it. I did, Greg did… Sara, the lab is investigating… it wasn't possible to keep it from Gil, Nick or Warrick."

Sara leaned back in her seat again. "I see." More people she had to lie to.

"I told them to leave you alone, that you'd come to them if you needed anything," Catherine added.

"It's okay." As much as everything was alright.

Catherine looked at her questioningly for another moment before she left her alone. They did not talk anymore until they arrived at Greg's place. Then Catherine insisted on stopping by Greg's as well, so the two women made their way to his apartment, Sara ringing at the door.

It was as if Greg had been expecting her, for the door was opened quickly, but Greg was obviously taken aback when he did not only see Sara in front of his door but Catherine as well. He caught himself quickly though, smiling at them.

"Hey."

"Hey," Sara returned. "I want to talk to you." She looked at him, and she saw the question in his eyes. His glace darted over to Catherine for a moment, his expression changing to a slight frown then.

"Okay," he said slowly, stepping aside to let her in. Sara walked into the apartment, while Greg stayed at the door looking at Catherine who did not make any movement to come in as well.

"I'm just saying hi," the blonde woman smiled. "And thanks for taking care of Sara right now."

Greg smiled insecurely. "You're …very welcome." If she knew how much he had taken care of Sara, Greg doubted she would be saying the same. But she did not know, as opposed to his first thought when he had just seen both Sara and her.

Catherine said goodbye after that and Greg closed the front door to follow Sara into the living room.

"You didn't seem to be too happy to see Catherine," Sara stated, knowing she was pressing the right button. She just had to make him talk to her.

Greg sat down onto the carpet, looking up at her. Sara had sat down at the couch, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Well, for a split-second I wondered if you had told her the truth," he admitted sighing. "Maybe that would've been better…"

Sara shook her head silently.

"I mean, I'm gonna feel bad every time I see her or one of the others at the lab," he explained. He was not looking at her anymore, but was staring at the floor crestfallenly.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Greg."

"I made you lie to them."

"It was my decision," she reminded him quietly. Greg did not answer her and Sara delved into her own gloomy thoughts for a while, staring at Greg's wallpaper, before he spoke again.

"We shouldn't have done that. We should trust enough in the system that we're working for…" He paused. Trust in it that it would turn out right. "We're deceiving our own people…" Then Greg was quiet again, looking carefully up to Sara again, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you feel bad," he said deflated. He slid the few paces over to her. "I'm just feeling horrible that I made you do that." He took her into his arms and Sara sobbed quietly into his shoulder. He realized that she was risking everything for him… her job, her career, and he wished he could make her take it back.

After some minutes Sara leaned back with puffy eyes, looking past him at the other side of the room.

"It's not fair that you're taking that risk, Sara," Greg said finally. "It was horrible enough that all that had to happen to you, and now you're risking everything." He hoped that was enough to convince her of the plan that had been forming in his mind.

His tone had obviously alerted her, for she looked up to him again, frowning.

"What are you going to do?"

"The lab is darn great at finding things out, you know. And I don't want all this coming down on you, when they find out that I was involved." He knew she would not like it. She would hate it actually.

"What are you going to do?" she asked more sharply. She would yell most likely. But he had to do this.

"I'm going to turn myself in," he answered simply. "That will still hold up your statement. You were out of it for some time and just didn't know that I was into it as well."

"No!" Her answer was loud and clear.

"Sara, I need to do this…" He stood up.

She jumped up. "Don't you dare!"

"Sara…"

"I was so scared! I was horrified at what you and your friend were going to do to me!" she was almost yelling at him. "It was like in my worst nightmare when I woke up and you were putting that gag in my mouth, were forcing me into that cabin, I was scared as hell." She paused for a moment, and she knew that Greg would not interrupt her.

"I was lying in that wood, afraid I was going to die, or one of you would come back and finish me off, and still at the same time I was thinking to find an explanation until I thought my head was going to explode."

Sara was crying openly now, and dropped back onto the edge of the couch. "And still I knew that I would forgive you one day… because I just couldn't imagine I wouldn't…"

Greg was dead silent the whole time she was talking and looked more crestfallen than he ever had.

"So, Greg, I want one thing of you… that you listen to me and don't go and turn yourself in," she stated quietly but firmly. "None of that was your fault, do you understand me?"

Greg was still silent and Sara hoped that he would listen to her. She could not bear him doing what he intended. She wished all of that had never happened, realizing that this thinking was futile. But one question once again came into her mind.

"Greg," she called him, hoping he would even hear her. "Can you tell me… why Charlie did it?" How she was asking it, it sounded more like she would ask a suspect why he had committed a certain crime. She had sounded calm, professional, scarily after her outburst only some minutes ago.

"For me," Greg stated simply after a moment of silence. "He did it because I had told him about you. You were a random target, yes, but he took you because you came close to the woman I…"

"What, Greg?"

Greg felt that she deserved his full honesty, if that was the only thing he could give her.

"I'm not sure how much I told him in my drunken state, but I remember telling him that I'd never had a chance with you, that it doesn't matter how much I love you, you'd never look at me this way…"

Greg doubted that he would ever be able to look at Sara again. He had been honest, that was what he had wanted, but he felt the offence of telling her how he felt after everything that had happened to her because of him.

After a long while he looked up to her again after all. It was worry that caused him to do so, as Sara had not given any sound of her after his narration. And it broke his heart once again to see that she was crying again, and again because of him.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

_Yeah, I'm sorry it took indeed longer than some of you would have wanted lol, but I'm quite busy. Yesterday I enjoyed the with the snow chaos connected train chaos here, so I needed ten hours in trains instead of six... and my laptop did not hold out longer than one hour, but it was enough to finish this chapter lol. And yes, Greg and Sara still have a long way to go._

_Thanks to Emmithar for the beta!_

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Sara was silent for a long time and Greg did not dare to say anything either. Finally he went into the bathroom, cooling his face, looking at his reflection in the mirror then. How had he dared to tell her that he loved her after what had happened to her because of him? He could not believe himself.

If Sara wanted to leave, she had the opportunity now while he was in the bathroom. She could go without any further awkwardness and possible hurt. And Greg almost wished she would, for he did not know how to deal with the situation. He did not know what he should say to her, what he should do. Would he ever feel that his apologies were enough? He doubted it.

He left the bathroom, and saw Sara still sitting on the couch. Now he was glad that she was still here. He would not be able to live with her leaving without another word either.

To his surprise, Sara suddenly smiled at him.

"It's just really a bad time to tell me that, you know," she said, and Greg looked at her confused for a moment before he realized that she was talking about his confession.

He nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I wanted an explanation and now I have it."

Sara was still smiling at him, and Greg dropped somewhat lost onto the floor in front of his armchair, leaning against it, looking at Sara puzzled. He was silent and she seemed to watch him for a while.

"I just wish it were under different circumstances, you know." Sara sounded earnest and somewhat sad. Greg nodded again.

"Me too."

Nothing of what she had said so far gave him really an idea how she was feeling towards her. And he did not expect her to change that.

Greg was trying to think of something that he could do, that he could say. Sara was just sitting there, making herself comfortable on the couch, looking at Greg from time to time. She was probably just tired and did not want to admit it.

They were jerked out of their tranquility, when Sara's cell phone started to ring. She was quick to answer it and Greg was torn between not wanting to eavesdrop and the curiousness for the situation. He was just about to stand up when Sara motioned him to keep sitting.

"It's Nick," she told him quietly, listening to the Texan talking. Greg nodded and remained where he was.

"Yeah, I'm at Greg's," Sara was saying now while Greg watched her. She was silent then and Greg could hear the subdued, quiet sounds of Nick speaking. Sara seemed to tense up then, her expression becoming stiff, but Greg did not miss the sadness he had already seen earlier that was there as well. He wondered what Nick was telling Sara, his heart beating faster as his nervousness increased.

Sara did not talk a lot during the whole conversation and when she said finally bye to Nick, she dropped the phone next to her on the couch, staring into the air.

"I talked to Nick," she said finally, after she had been silent for a while, worriedly watched by Greg.

"I know," Greg nodded.

"He told me how sorry he is about what happened," she stated. "Wanted to talk with me." Sara's expression seemed to drop altogether. "I lied to him." She closed her eyes, clearly trying to compose herself. "I hate it."

"Sara, we can-"

"I have no idea how I am supposed to lie to him the whole time," she rambled. She was clearly upset and rather pale, almost as if she was going to get sick.

Greg was getting more and more uneasy. He knew that Sara would not be able to lie to Nick and their other co-workers the whole time. She was certainly able to hide things, to conceal them, to never tell a single person about something, but since the lab was working the case, she would have to lie to them again and again. Actually not only because of the case, the topic would certainly come up again and again anyway, unless she managed to bring home the message that she did not want to talk about it anymore. Which would certainly be respected but until then the damage was done.

Sara looked Greg directly into the eyes and he knew what she was thinking. She realized that they would have to tell the truth, that she would not be able to go through with concealing what had happened.

Sara seemed as if she wanted to just leave, but remained sitting, while Greg was rubbing his forehead.

"I've got to go home," she said finally, and Greg nodded. It did not seem like there had any decision been made. Some minutes later Greg closed the front door behind Sara, feeling suddenly the tiredness falling over him. As he planned on taking only a short nap, he had to work tonight after all and it was not like he did not have other things to do during the day, he crashed onto the couch, avoiding his bed, knowing that it would be too difficult to bring himself out of that again.

The first thing he realized when he woke up, was that he had definitely slept longer than a short nap for the room was already lying in darkness, showing the far progressed time of the day. The next thing he noticed through the fog in his mind was that it was the ringing of the phone that had woken him up.

Somehow torn between wanting to make it to the phone before the caller gave up, and not caring at all, Greg stumbled towards the phone, picking up the call breathlessly once he reached it.

"Sanders." He did not like how tired he sounded.

"It's Sara."

Greg nodded, realizing only a second later that she could not see him. What was up with him anyway?

"Hi, Sara. What's up?" This was yet another stupid move. How could he ask her what was up, knowing it very well, but sounding now as if he had forgotten about it in his carelessness?

"Okay," Sara said, and Greg thought he heard a sniffing. Greg knew immediately what she meant and felt his stomach twisting, but told himself that it was the right thing to do and that it was good that Sara finally agreed with it.

"Okay," he echoed her, "that's… good." Greg was sure that Sara thought him to be the greatest moron on earth by now. He seriously wondered why she cared so much to not turn him in. Okay, actually now she would be doing exactly that, but only after a lot of convincing.

"But…" Sara added then, and there was determination in her voice.

"What but?"

"Only under certain conditions."

Greg was confused. He could not imagine what she meant. Either they were coming off clean completely, or they let it be; they could not go and tell parts of the truth and keep hiding other parts of it.

He thought he could hear a sigh from Sara, before she went on.

"I'll go down to PD and tell Brass everything, also everything you know about Charlie," she explained. "It will help them with the investigation."

"Yeah." It was certainly easier for Sara to go to talk with Brass than with anybody at the lab, like Grissom for example.

"And you," Sara continued, "will stay at your place. I don't want you near any possible trouble." She was still caring for him, but Greg knew that there was no point.

"Sara, this isn't going to work anyway." He was silent, waiting for an answer from her that did not come. "I'll come too, we're in this…" Greg stopped. How could he claim they were in this together? They were on completely different sides in this drama. Sara was the victim of it, and he was… he did not even know what he was in all of it.

"Yeah, you're right," Sara agreed with him though. "We're in this together." She sounded calm, surprisingly, after everything that had been communicated between them recently. Greg breathed out slowly, maybe she would really agree to him coming as well.

"I'll go to Brass and tell him the facts," Sara decided evenly. "We can then face the storm at the lab together." Now more resignation sounded in her voice. And Greg doubted that he ever had to show up at the lab again. He did not even think there was a point in going in to work tonight, apart from making it more convenient for them to fire him, being there in person and all.

"Okay," he agreed resignedly.

"I'll call you later," Sara finished the conversation and shut off the call. Greg still did no see her point in wanting to go alone. He felt the whole matter to be his responsibility and the last thing he wanted was that Sara was taking the first blow of it.

Determinedly he got into his shoes, grabbing his phone and keys, before he walked out of his apartment hurriedly. On his way to his car, he dialed Sara's number, waiting for her to pick up. When he was just climbing into his car, she finally answered the call.

"Sidle."

"Sara, it's Greg," he brought out quickly. "Stay where you are, I'll pick you up, and we'll go to Brass together." He hoped there was enough determination in his voice, for he knew that he was sure of Sara's anger for trying to break her decision anyway, but trying and failing was an even worse alternative.

She sighed. "I'll wait for you." They were in this together after all.

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

_So this will probably be the last update until after my finals. Who hasn't read 'Attachment' yet, can go and read this lol. Yeah, I'm already advertising my own fics, because really... I like Attachment better than this story but way more people read this than Attachment ;-) _

_Thanks for the reviews and thanks to Emmithar for the beta! And uh, yeah, I'd like to know what you think :D_

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**Chapter 9**

Sara was silent during the drive. Greg could hardly make out her expression in the dim light of the car, her face being lit only for a split second every time they drove past one of the bright lights along the street.

There was nothing to talk between them anymore, their decision had been made. Greg wondered if it had been certain from the very beginning that it had to come to the current situation, if there had been anything they could have done differently, apart from telling the truth right away. Maybe they would have been able to keep it to themselves after all, even though it would have been hard, and wrong anyway.

But right now Greg had the feeling as if he was driving them to what would turn out to be a very bad night. His heart was heavy when they got out of the car at the brightly lit parking lot at the police department and he saw Sara's sad expression.

It was his fault. If she had not cared so much about what would happen to him, she would have given an accurate statement right away, would not have been in this mess.

Sara stood nailed to the spot next to his car, avoiding his look, but he noticed that she was sneaking glances at him.

"Let's go," he said and it sounded spiritless. Sara nodded, but did not move. Greg walked over to her, and then she hugged him all of a sudden.

"Greg, I'm so sorry," she sniffed. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey," Greg tried to sound lighthearted, patting her on the back. "There's nothing you need to be sorry about." She should never be sorry about that she just was not able to lie to her co-workers again and again, even if it was to save Greg's neck.

Sara collected herself and a minute later they were finally making their way inside the building. When they were walking along the hallway, Greg could not help glancing at the people around him who had been taken into custody and were now being led to holding cells, and wondering if he would find himself in one of them soon as well.

Shaking his head slightly, his determination increased that he would not let that happen. He had not done anything wrong, at least nothing criminal. He had not known about Charlie's plan, about what he had done, and once he had found Sara, his only intention had been to save her. And Sara would confirm that, Greg was sure of it. He only hoped that they would believe her. After all they could doubt that Sara was able at all to tell what Greg's intentions had been, what he had known.

And then there was their wrong statement. Sara's wrong statement actually, and Greg's silence. It could actually be ruled criminal, an obstruction of justice. But as Sara was the victim in all of this, Greg doubted that they would go that far.

They arrived at Brass's office soon and Sara knocked at the open door. Brass called them in and smiled when they entered the room. His expression changed to a concerned one though, when he saw Greg's grave and Sara's pale and rigid face.

"What's wrong with you two?" he asked almost fatherly.

"We have to confess something," Sara replied crestfallen. Brass looked confused, and his expression changed between an almost laughing one and a very puzzled look, apparently thinking he was in the wrong movie or that Sara was dramatizing things.

"Okay, let's go slowly," he said, making a calming gesture. "I doubt you two have robbed a bank, have you? Sorry. So don't look as if you have to 'confess' something like that. Whatever it is I'm sure we can talk calmly about it, okay?"

Sara nodded hesitatingly. Brass motioned her to sit down. Sara wondered how on earth she was supposed to start, but Brass answered that question for her.

"Is it about the abduction?" he asked concerned, watching Sara closely. She nodded. Brass looked at Greg. "Do you want Greg to go outside?"

"It has kind of to do with Greg," Sara returned quietly. Brass frowned, looking at the younger man again, who stood feeling clearly uncomfortable near the door.

"What do you mean?"

Sara knew that she had to tell. That was why she was here. Why Greg was here. She looked directly at Brass, looked into his face that would turn from worry to deep disappointment in only a few moments. The room was not lit very brightly, and somehow it helped Sara in feeling rather distant from herself. She needed to feel like that. She just had to make herself tell the truth without really feeling any emotions, without feeling the sadness about doing to Greg what she had never wanted to do, about having to admit that she had lied to her friends and co-workers.

"Greg was there as well." Greg who was standing behind her right now, even though she could not see him.

For Sara her statement was clear, so she wondered why Brass' expression was still confused, why he did not look at her realizing, and disgusted.

"He was kidnapped as well?" Brass tried to clarify carefully, glancing back and forth between Sara and Greg. Sara shook her head. Brass was silent, finally standing up from his chair, turning away from them, rubbing his forehead.

He turned back to the pair. He looked at Greg. "Could you wait outside, please?" Greg nodded and was out of the room quickly with a last glance at Sara, closing the door behind him.

Brass sat down in his chair again, apparently needing the time to calm himself.

"I sent him out so you can talk freely," he told Sara explaining. "So that we get this right: Sanders kidnapped you?"

Sara shook her head, frowning. If Brass thought that, why had he just sent Greg outside? Or did he trust that Greg would not make a run for it?

"You have to see," Brass continued, "that I'm rather confused now. So, please, tell me what happened. Open your mouth and talk to me." The last bit had already an irritated undertone and Sara could not blame him, for she was beating around the bush.

"It was Greg's friend who kidnapped me," she started. "And Greg was just there."

"He was just there?"

"Greg did not know about it. He and his friend were out on a trip to Lake Mead and Greg did not know that Charlie had taken me earlier," Sara explained. "Greg found me in Charlie's car and saved me."

"He saved you?" Brass sounded clearly unbelieving. "I didn't exactly see him coming here, bringing you to the hospital, or anything else that would have indicated that." He looked at her sternly. "As far as I know it wasn't him who found you lying close to hypothermia in the woods."

"Greg saved me," Sara stated firmly. "Charlie wanted to kill me and he would have done so if Greg had not kept him from doing it." She had to convince Brass that it had been this way, she simply had to.

"Why are you telling me about it only now anyway? Why didn't you tell about it when you gave your statement? Why did you lie to me, to Catherine?" Brass asked her, the anger in his voice now clearly audible.

"Because I didn't want to get Greg into trouble. I was afraid you wouldn't believe me," Sara admitted.

"So why should I believe you now? Do you think Greg's going to be in less trouble now? If he did save you so greatly, there was nothing he had to fear," Brass threw back. "But now both of you are in big trouble, I can promise you that." He turned away from her, looking out of the window, although he could clearly not see anything outside, since the light of the room reflected in the dark window.

Sara stared at the edge of his desk, and despite her earlier resolution, tears were coming up by now. She had never thought she would screw up her job, her career in a way like that. She had even managed to screw up the relationship with the only people she was somewhat close with.

She did not notice how Brass turned to her again. He sat down at his desk, watching her. His anger diminished and he looked at her rather sadly now.

"Sara, I'm sorry," he said finally. "I shouldn't forget that you're the victim here, and not the culprit. I'm sorry." When Sara did not answer, he brought out a tape recorder, placing it on the desk between them.

"Can you tell me again what happened, from the very beginning?" he asked softly, and Sara noticed that he did not add 'the truth this time' to his request. He probably just did not want it on the tape. She nodded and started recalling the events. While she clearly stated the truth this time, she still tried to make especially clear that Greg had only helped her, that he had saved her. Several things she had to speak out sounded very bad for him, she knew that, so it was even more important that she clarified that she had only survived because of him.

Brass' expression was grim when she was finished. "Are you sure that Sanders was not in it?" he asked her again.

Sara nodded decidedly. She knew that there were extraordinary circumstances that made Brass doubt the young CSI so much. And she had to admit that it was partly her fault that he was doing so. Brass apparently wanted to make very sure to learn the whole truth this time.

He stood up. "I'd advise you to just go home and get some rest," he told her. "You know that I have to inform the lab about everything?"

He could not really mean it as a question, but Sara still nodded.

"Send Sanders in on your way out."

Sara looked at Brass questioningly and he shook his head, understanding her silent question. "If he confirms your statement, he's free to go. It seems as if he really saved you." Brass did not sound convinced. "We don't have anything against him yet."

"You won't find anything," Sara ensured him, and Brass nodded, motioning her to get out.

**TBC**


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: My exams are finally over (for this semester), yay! So I had finally time for an update. Thanks for the reviews and to Emmithar for the beta, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Sara left Brass's office, meeting Greg's gaze outside in the hallway. She tried to give him a somewhat encouraging look, before she motioned him to go into the room she had just come out. It was his turn now.

"I'll wait here for you," she promised him and this definitely encouraged him, for he gave her a small smile, before he vanished into Brass's office. Sara sat down on the closest plastic chair she could find in the hallway. Nobody did really pay attention to her. She had been here many times before and nobody would think she was here for anything other than work, and Sara was glad about it.

Greg closed the door behind himself, meeting Brass's stern look. The other man told him to sit down and Greg did so.

"It's quite a mess we're in here, isn't it?" the older man started and Greg did not really feel like he was supposed to answer. When he was silent, Brass continued, "You know that you don't have to tell anything that could incriminate yourself."

Greg nodded, swallowing. "Are you arresting me?" It seemed like a fair question, considering the captain was informing him about his rights.

"I would have mentioned, if I was," Brass returned dryly. "According to Sara, you didn't do anything wrong."

Greg nodded again, hopefully.

"I'd appreciate, if you tell me what happened, but you don't have to. If you can confirm what Sara stated though, there's nothing you can do wrong," Brass explained him.

"I'll tell you what happened," Greg stated, and Brass leaned back expectantly. Greg recounted how he met Charlie, how they had celebrated his birthday, how Charlie had turned up in the morning, inviting Greg for a trip.

"When we arrived at the cabin, Charlie kept rambling how he had done something wrong and wondered how he was supposed to get out of it again. He kept glancing at the trunk of his car, so I went finally over and opened it," Greg explained, rubbing his eyes at the memory.

"And Sara was in there?" Brass asked quietly and Greg nodded.

He did not know how much Sara had told already, how many details she had given, but as Greg continued explaining what had happened, Brass's expression remained unchanged, so Greg figured that he already knew most of it from Sara. It was for Greg almost as painful to tell about what he had done, as it had been when he had done it. He still could not believe that Sara had forgiven him so easily, even though she knew now that everything he had done had been to save her.

He recounted everything up to the point when he and Charlie had left Sara in the cabin, and his and Charlie's subsequent discussion about what they would do.

"I was looking to see if the coast is clear to get Sara out, when I was knocked out," he continued. "I woke up at my place and found a letter from Charlie there, explaining that he had taken care of everything." He rubbed his eyes. "I thought he had killed her."

Brass nodded understanding. "And Sara called you…?"

"Yeah, she called me from the lab and told me to come over."

"That's it?" the older man questioned. Greg nodded. Brass moved a notepad in front of Greg, handing him a pen. "I want you to jot down any information you can give on Charlie."

Greg started writing, while Brass stood up, looking out of the window again. "I guess Sara's waiting outside?" he asked. Greg confirmed this. "You'll take her home then?" Brass wanted to know. Greg nodded again, while he finished up writing with noting Charlie's last address he knew. Then he stood up, looking at Brass insecurely.

"I already told Sara that I have to tell the lab of course."

"Yeah." Greg knew that Brass was only preparing them for the very likely case that the lab would take measures.

Greg found Sara waiting outside and the both of them made their way quickly out of the building. In Greg's head formed thoughts that they should have told the truth right away, but he was not going to tell Sara that. She probably knew that herself, he did not have a justification to tell her anything about it. Besides, her worries could have been reasonable after all.

And it was not completely over yet. Brass had not really told him anything. Greg did not know what the investigation would result in, now that new facts were on the table. What if Charlie had managed to get rid of any traces he had left behind? There was his set of DNA on Sara, but it was not like they could match it to him without a sample. What if there was not a single proof that there had been another man in the whole thing at all?

There was Sara's statement of course, but the fact she had lied before, did not exactly help. It was known now, how things lay: She would lie to help Greg. Greg knew better than that, had seen that Sara was not able to hold up a lie against her friends and co-workers, but they did not know that. Actually Greg did not look forward to the reaction of his colleagues at the lab at all.

Greg dropped Sara off at her place and she got out of the car with a short bye and a smile at least. Greg watched her walking towards her apartment away from the car. She turned back to him for a second, smiling again and Greg wished they could forget what had happened.

Forget and start something that might develop between them after he had told Sara how he felt and she had not rejected him at all, but had just said that it was a bad time. Yes, it was a bad time. If they could just forget, they could have a good time, maybe a great time together. But knowing they could not just move on from what had happened, knowing that there would be an aftermath coming from the lab, Greg realized that there would probably never happen anything between them as matters lay. He watched Sara go sadly.

Greg was relieved when he was back at his place. It was not his normal sleeping time, since he was usually working right now, but now that a big part of the tension was falling off of him for now, he was getting tired and went to bed, not caring if he was messing up his sleeping pattern. He doubted he would be working so soon again anyway.

He did not really know how long he had slept but it was bright day when he woke up. More or less dragging himself into the kitchen, he set up coffee, knowing it was more than necessary. While the water was still pouring, he heard the unmistakable sound of the door bell. After watching the black liquid in the coffee machine accumulate for another moment, his brain still too fogged from sleeping to even really care who was at the door, he slowly walked to the entrance, brushing with his hand once over his unkempt hair to smoothen it somewhat.

Swinging the door open, he found Sara outside. She had obviously been pacing, for she was just turning around.

Greg smiled. "Hey." Sara returned the expression as well as the greeting and Greg moved back to let her come in, but she was not showing any inclination to actually enter Greg's apartment.

"Catherine called me," Sara said. Greg lifted his eyebrows, imagining that this call had not been all amicable. "She told me to come in. And to bring you too." Sara rolled her eyes. "She did as if we'd hang out together all the time."

Greg frowned again, wondering if he should be hurt about her last statement.

"Okay," he told her then. Looking down at himself, he added. "Just have to get a bit more presentable, then I'll come," he grimaced.

"Sure." Sara shrugged, leaning lightly against the wall behind her, still standing outside of Greg's apartment. Greg moved back into the place, leaving the door for Sara open. He hurried up in the bathroom, unwilling to let her wait long. He was just slipping into his shoes, when he remembered the coffee that had been brewing in the kitchen.

Rummaging in his cupboard until he found paper cups, he filled two of them with the still hot drink. He walked carefully to the front door, trying to avoid spilling any coffee. Sara was still waiting outside and he handed her a cup, receiving a small smile in return.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Greg walked briefly back into his flat, drinking a large gulp from his cup and grabbing his keys, before he joined Sara outside and they made their way down to her car.

"I didn't think they'd actually call us in together," Greg remarked, when he was shutting the door on the passenger's site. Sara nodded, starting the engine. She did not reply to his comment any further though, but looked at him earnestly, before pulling into traffic.

* * *

It was only when they were walking into the lab that Greg really started to worry about what was going to happen. He had tried and succeeded to keep his thought from it so far, and since Sara had not been communicative, they had not talked about it again either. But now that he was making his way along the hallway, Sara walking close behind him, he started to wonder how the lab would deal with what had happened, with Sara's untruthful first statement and with Greg's entanglement into everything.

He was glad that it was already well into dayshift, so that the chance of meeting one of his graveyard co-workers was reduced. Greg did not feel like having to face their anger now which would surely come later. He could only imagine how they would react. Certainly disappointed, but considering what had happened to Sara because of him, it was possible that they responded with disgust as well.

His thoughts immediately went from these rather distant worries, when he suddenly made out Ecklie in front of them. The other man turned to the two CSIs who were coming up to him. He did not look amused.

"Ah, here we go," he announced on seeing Greg and Sara. Greg stopped and Sara came to a halt next to him. Ecklie looked at them sternly. "With who of you will I deal with first? One is worse than the other." He looked around into the direction of his office, while Greg could feel Sara laying her arm on his back, invisible for Ecklie.

In this moment Greg could see Grissom hurrying up to them from the other side. Ecklie saw him, and looking at the graveyard supervisor, he suggested, "Let's start with Sidle." Apparently acknowledging neither Greg nor Sara's presence, Grissom nodded earnestly. Then he looked at the pair after all and Greg could feel the reproach in his silence.

**TBC**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sorry for taking so long with the update, I am having somewhat of a writer's block lately, unfortunately for all my stories. Thanks to Emmithar for the beta!**_

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Greg rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying to stay focused on the samples in front of him. He was still not used to these hours. Of course, he had often been working at this time of the day when he had been pulling a double, but it had not been every day; plus he had known that his shift would be over soon. Now he had the whole afternoon still in front of him. Greg longed for a cup of strong coffee, but did not dare to leave his working place to venture into the break room again.

He glanced up and to his surprise he saw Sara in the distance, standing in the hallway, staring at a paper in her hand. It was late for her, although Greg knew that she was nowadays pulling more doubles than ever.

After some moments Sara looked up and into Greg's direction. If there was a change in her expression at seeing him, then it was only a frown getting deeper. She turned on her heels quickly, walking away swiftly.

Greg had not expected her to do anything else. Sara did not want to know anything from him anymore and it was a fact he would have to live with.

They had not talked at all ever since the day when Ecklie had called at first Sara, then Greg into his office in Grissom's presence. Sara and Greg might have intended before to face the storm at the lab together, but this resolution had apparently crumbled into dust as soon as they had been called in separately.

It was not that long since Greg was back at work at all. Both he and Sara had been suspended. This was something they had expected and it had certainly not been the worst thing.

After what Ecklie had called "conspiring together", for what he would have loved to fire them, he had insisted that they would not work together anymore, as if there was the danger that they would breed more mischief at the lab. And not working together had meant that any contact at the lab had to be avoided as far as possible.

For Greg that had amounted to being back at the DNA lab at dayshift. As Ecklie had put it, even as a CSI at dayshift there would have been the probability that he and Sara would have to work together one day. Her having to consult the dayshift DNA was less likely and actually banned now.

Greg sighed. Of course the lab was not exactly in a position to forbid them any private contact as well, but everything had resulted in them not seeing each other outside of work anymore either, in them not even talking with each other at all anymore.

Greg guessed that Sara blamed him that she had been compelled to counseling to be able to handle what had happened to her, as the lab had obviously assumed that her actions had been an aftermath of the shock she had suffered.

Sara surely did not like having to talk about how she felt to some counselor, so it seemed only natural to Greg that she was angry at him. Besides the fact that she had maybe finally come to the conclusion that she hated Greg anyway for what he had done, and even more so what Charlie, Greg's friend, had done.

Former friend was certainly the more fitting phrase though, a phrase Greg could also apply to his former co-workers at graveyard shift who had not been thrilled at all when they learned what had really happened. Greg had not really talked with either of them anymore either, at least not a single time that was not work-related, since Nick or Warrick sometimes had to come to Greg into the DNA lab when they needed results after graveyard shift was over.

It was almost 2 PM when Greg remembered that he was supposed to be at Ecklie's office at the full hour, something he was not looking forward to at all. Finishing off the sample he had just been working on, he left the lab, making his way quickly to his destination, being late was not something he thought would be too smart.

He glanced into the office nervously, trying to see if Ecklie was around, but nobody was visible in the room. Figuring it was better to wait outside, he turned to leave when he found himself facing the owner of the office. He ushered Greg into the room, but did not close the door. Greg guessed that they were waiting for Grissom who was off shift now but probably still around.

"Sit down," Ecklie asked him, and Greg took a seat, swallowing nervously. Ecklie did not say anything further but leaned back in his own chair. Greg was about to just ask something, if only to break the silence, when there was a knock at the open door, and he turned around to see Grissom.

"Close the door please," Ecklie told him impatiently, and Grissom did so, not saying a word. Just when Ecklie was about to start though, Grissom spoke up after all.

"Wouldn't it have been appropriate if Sara was around, too?"

Greg glanced briefly at his former supervisor, before he looked back into Ecklie's direction. It would have certainly only been fair towards Sara to have her involved into the matter that concerned her the most after all, but somehow Greg was glad that she was not here right now.

"It's new to me that we involve victims in our lab's procedure," Ecklie returned at Grissom's remark. Greg glanced once again to Grissom, painfully touched. Grissom let it go though, and simply indicated Ecklie to start. Ecklie postponed that after all by searching for a file out of his cabinet, laying in onto his desk though without looking at it a second time.

"As you probably know," he addressed Greg, "the case involving you and Sara was recently closed."

Greg nodded.

"As far as it was possible, we could confirm Sara's statement, second statement I should add, that you were involved in the kidnapping, but only in so far as to save Sara."

Greg did not dare to move or to say anything, waiting for the final statement he awaited from the other man.

"So you're not going to be charged with anything," Ecklie concluded and some of the tension fell from Greg. Ecklie stood up. "We may actually thank you for saving one of our best criminologists," he said, stretching out his hand for Greg to shake who felt more than awkward and wondered what that all was supposed to mean. "Despite the unfortunate circumstances that followed," Ecklie added.

His expression told Greg that he could go. He was not surprised that Grissom had not said anything, but wondered why he had actually been there since he was not even Greg's supervisor anymore. Grissom opened the door of the office and Greg was about to leave after him, when he turned back to Ecklie.

"Can I then go into the field again?" he wanted to know. Being back at the DNA lab was not what he had worked for. Hearing his question, Grissom stopped dead as well, turning to look into the room again.

"I'm afraid that not," Ecklie replied. "It's out of question that you're working together with Sara again, and dayshift doesn't need another CSI. I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Greg returned quietly. Ecklie was very sorry for sure. Greg looked at the edge of Ecklie's desk for a few moments, thinking about his next question. "What about me going back to graveyard and working no cases together with Sara?" he suggested hopefully.

The other man shook his head. "I can't tell the supervisor of graveyard how he distributes his cases."

Greg glanced at Grissom and saw that he was frowning, but Greg knew that he could not expect any support from Grissom right now. Later maybe, but now the disappointment about that he and Sara had lied was still hanging over them

"And in cases that are all hands on deck, you two would be together necessarily," Ecklie continued. "It's a liability we cannot risk."

Greg wanted to tell him how he and Sara were no liability, and how they were working together well, but he kept his mouth shut, knowing he had no possible chance to overcome Ecklie's arguments, in that he would point at Greg's and Sara's actions after the kidnapping.

Greg left the office disappointedly, even though relieved that he would not have to face any further consequences. He made his way back to the DNA lab, meeting Nick on his way, who pretended to look into the file in his hand though while walking past Greg, ignoring him.

Greg sighed, walking back to his workplace. He hated it here, but right now there did not seem to be a way out.

That none of his former co-workers and friends was talking to him anymore did not make it easier, although he was seeing them not so often anymore anyway. Only Catherine had found her way to Greg several times so far. She had apparently been mostly angry at Sara for lying to her with her first wrong statement, but had still kept a somewhat friendly attitude towards Greg who she obviously did not blame.

The very person Greg longed to talk to the most did not even look at him for more than a second. They had not talked in long, and Sara had not returned any of Greg's calls. Actually he had tried to call her only twice, figuring then that pressing her was not going to get them anywhere. But he missed her. He missed working with her and even more so being together with her.

Preparing another sample, Greg tried to get his thoughts away from Sara.

**TBC**


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Finally an update… **_

_**Thanks to Jenny for her help with this!**_

_**Writing is still going rather slowly for me, but I think lots of encouragement would help ;-) **_

_**I hope you'll enjoy.**_

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**Chapter 12**

Sometimes Sara wished she had been transferred to another shift as well. Then she would not have to endure the attitudes of her co-workers/former-friends, at least not for seemingly endless shifts. They apparently did not know whether to feel sorry for her or be angry at her, and Sara had more than grown tired of it.

She had resolved on focusing on what she was good at, her work, hoping in the back of her mind that they would find their way back to her. She would be glad if they forgave her lying, if they saw why she had done it, for Greg, but it was not like she needed them.

Still, she wondered what Greg thought. Did he think that she had managed to put the blame on him? It would have been easy enough, after all. And it was him who had to work at dayshift now, back in DNA. He had not done anything wrong, he had actually saved her. He should have rather been congratulated on it, instead of being punished; it had not been his idea to make a false statement.

On the other hand, Sara was happy that Greg did not have to face any other consequences from this whole drama. Grissom had told her that the case had been closed for now, even though the search for Charlie was still on. Sara knew that there had been a chance that the case was more or less twisted to make Greg the guilty party. It had been the very reason for her not coming clear from the very beginning.

This afternoon she had played with the idea to go and talk to Greg. She had hesitated though, standing some distance away from the DNA lab, staring at a paper in her hand, trying to make herself walk the rest of the way to Greg's working place to talk to him.

She had glanced in his direction, seeing him through the glass walls he had once been thrown through. But then he had looked up, and she had quickly looked back down at her paper. After some moments she had carefully lifted her gaze, but Greg was still watching her, and she walked away, frustrated with herself.

Her shift was long over by that time and there had not been a real reason to stick around that long, save for her feeling like she had nothing else to do anyway, and her desire to talk to Greg.

Sara closed her locker even more frustrated, realizing that she had actually something else to do. The last appointment with her counselor was scheduled for this afternoon.

Sara congratulated herself. She had managed to convince everybody at the lab that she needed that. Obviously everybody thought she was crazy. Well, some had already thought that before, and she had only confirmed their persuasions.

Walking out of the locker room, Sara almost bumped into Nick. He stopped dead, smiling at her.

"Hey, Sara, how are you doing?" he asked.

So Nick was worried about her today, Sara thought. Admittedly he had been most of the time, even though he had given her a hard time as well. He hated lies just as much as she did.

"I'm fine," she returned, smiling faintly.

"You're heading home?"

Sara grimaced. "No, I'm not. Crazy Sidle has another appointment today," she told him with a hint of bitterness.

"Sara," Nick interjected sighing. "I know you don't like it, but it's for you, so you can better deal with everything and all… nobody thinks you're crazy."

"Yeah. Sure." She frowned.

Nick mirrored her expression. "Do you think I liked talking about being buried alive?"

Sara glanced at the floor. "I'm sorry, Nick."

"It's alright," he patted her shoulder. "And you're going to be, too."

Sara nodded slightly, and Nick walked past her into the locker room.

"Are we friends again?" she wanted to know, turning her head into his direction.

Nick smiled, stopping his movement to open his locker, looking at her. "Always been, Sara."

Sara smiled in returned, walking off then, hurrying since she did not want to be late for her appointment, as she was not inclined to explain that she was late because she had once again worked way more overtime than necessary. Her counselor would only assume that she still tried to bury her self in work, which was actually true, but nothing Sara wanted to discuss again.

Two hours later she entered her apartment, making her way groggily directly to the bathroom. She undressed and washed, cramming the dirty clothes into the clothes basket. It was definitely time for laundry; she would actually have to come home in time the next day to do that.

She did not even lay awake for long once she was in bed, simply too tired from work and worn out from the frustration from both her inability to talk to Greg and the finally last counseling appointment. At least one thing that she was over with.

The night at the lab started slowly. Sara was sipping on a cup of coffee when Grissom walked in tardily, followed by Catherine and Warrick.

"Nick's already out on a B&E, that's the only thing we have so far tonight," their boss explained. His gaze fell on Sara, "If it stays like that, you'll leave early, Sara. You've been here too much lately."

Sara frowned at this order, at the same time wondering that he had even noticed.

"If you think so," Sara replied, trying to sound neutrally. She was not inclined to argue at all. She would have wanted to, but somewhere in the back of her mind she feared that it would only provoke remarks, remarks she did not need right now, remarks about everything that had happened.

"He's right, Sara," Catherine added. Of course she had to give her own part to it, Sara thought bitterly. A hundred things she wanted to reply were going around in her head, but she was resolved on not letting herself being provoked by Catherine this time.

"Alright," she said, pouring the rest of her coffee into the sink and walking off.

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It was not even 4 AM when Sara had finished even the last paperwork. Remembering what Grissom had said, she figured that she could just go home. If she searched enough, she would always be able to find more work to do, but the last thing she wanted was that. Grissom reminded her to leave early; she was really not inclined to listen to anything like that.

As inconspicuously as possible she made her way out of the lab, walking over the parking lot to her car. It was very early in the morning. It was too early for breakfast. Too early to do her laundry. Too early to do anything other than sleep. But sleeping was not something she was going to do now.

She sat in her car for a short while, thinking. Maybe it was time to do something she should have done for long. It was not going to lead anywhere if she kicked herself every day again because she had not managed to talk to Greg. And they could not go on like this forever. And Greg would not come to her.

Sara was calm when she walked up to Greg's apartment. But once she stood in front of his door, she thought that it was not exactly nice to turn up this early in the morning when Greg was probably still sleeping. He was not working nightshift anymore; she could not expect him to be awake when she liked him to be.

On the other hand she still hoped that he would be glad to see her after all. She just wondered if she risked her chances for that with turning up at this time of the night. Frowning she decided that the time she turned up was probably rather unimportant for Greg's reaction. He was a CSI, he was also used to getting called in early; so he would not be angry if she came to him this early in the morning.

Finally deciding to ring the bell, Sara stepped closer to Greg's front door, pushing the button that gave the buzzing signal. It seemed to be obnoxiously loud in the silence of the night. But soon after Sara could see the door opening in front of her and she faced Greg's tired, surprised expression.

He was wearing pajamas and moved back simply, letting her in and closing the door behind her. She walked slowly away from the front door, wondering awkwardly what she wanted here.

"What does bring you here at this time of the night?" Greg wanted to know, sounding groggy. It was a good question.

"I want to talk to you," Sara went for the honest way. Greg smiled, but turned around then, walking into his kitchen. "What are you doing?" Sara wanted to know, frowning at his behavior.

"I need some coffee," she heard him replying which was soon followed by the sound of running water. Sara guessed that Greg was telling the truth since he was apparently tired, but she guessed it had also something to do with her sudden appearance and her sudden offer to talk.

A minute later Greg returned, smiling at her. "It will be ready in a few," he said lightly. He leaned against the door frame to the kitchen, looking at her wondering. "I didn't expect you to come, you know." He looked down at himself, obviously remembering only now that he was still in pajamas.

"I'm sorry I turned up at this time," Sara apologized. "Grissom kicked me out. Sort of," she added, rolling her eyes.

Greg's eyebrows had shot up. "He kicked you out?"

"Out of the lab," Sara said quickly. "It was a slow night, so he told me to leave early. Look who's talking." She frowned, reminding herself of the reason she had actually come. She looked at Greg again who still stood there somewhat lost, brushing with his hand over his hair that stood into all directions.

She moved towards him, kissing him then and Greg returned the affection after a second. She let go of him for a moment, smiling, before she kissed him again, laughing then somewhat nervously.

"That's what I'd call a good start into the day," Greg remarked grinning. His expression turned serious then. "Do you really want that? I mean…"

Sara slung her arms around his back. "I've missed you. I missed talking to you and being around you."

"I didn't think-"

Another kiss silenced him. "I feel save with you," Sara assured him. "I want to be together with you." Greg smiled, but freed himself out of her arms.

"Coffee's ready, I think." He marched of into the kitchen again and Sara followed him this time, watching him.

"Greg, I think we have to move on," Sara started, guessing that Greg's only reason for hesitation was that he still felt guilty about everything. If he only knew that she still hated herself for the fact that she felt to be the reason why he had sort of lost his job.

"I want that, too," he said quietly, stopping in his movement to fill two cups with coffee, staring down at the counter.

"We can't change what happened," Sara told him insistently. "And nothing of it was your fault."

Greg turned to her, a faint smile in his face. "I know."

"Do you really?" She looked at him for a moment, waiting for an answer and when it did not come, she walked over to him, filling the cups herself, handing him one of them then. Greg took a sip, reaching out then to stroke her hair, smiling at her.

"What if… Charlie…?"

"They'll get him," Sara said decidedly. "But that's none of our business. You did everything you could."

Greg nodded, drinking more of his coffee. He still seemed rather worried. Sara put her cup back onto Greg's counter, taking his shoulders in her hands then.

"Listen, I want my Greg again, okay? The Greg with who things seem easier and more enjoyable, not harder." She wanted to have this normalcy back.

Greg grimaced. "I get it."

"That's good to hear."

**TBC**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Well, I can tell you that I'm already well into the next chapter, so I should have the next part up quicker than this one. **_

_**Thanks to Emmithar for the beta!**_

_**I hope you enjoy, and thanks for your comments.**_

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**Chapter 13**

Sara blinked into the light of the sinking sun, shutting the door of her car. She left it behind and walked the short distance to Greg's place.

He had called her earlier when he had still been at the lab, telling her he would be off shift in time. She had still waited for a little longer, before she made her way over to him, but she wanted to use the time they had before she would have to be at work again. Them working different shifts made it necessary that they planned well when to meet.

Not only for this reason wished Sara that Greg would be back working graveyard. But also because she missed working with him, and because she still felt bad for him not being able to work as a CSI anymore.

Greg had actually talked about quitting at the lab, more than once in the last few weeks since they were seeing each other. It was not only for his job, but also because his former co-workers still cut him for the most part. Sara could not understand why.

Now that she and Nick were friendly again, she had thought he might be able to soften on Greg as well. It had not happened so far. Of course, there was not much of an opportunity since they were not seeing each other a lot, but still things could have been better.

With Greg and her things were going very well though. Sara enjoyed spending time with him, and had realized only more how much she missed working together with him.

As much as Greg was frustrated with the whole lab situation, she had not seen him as happy as he was now since the whole mess had started. She liked that she made him feel that way, hoping that she was able to give him enough.

She smiled to herself when she climbed up the stairs to his apartment. They had agreed on spending a cozy evening at home, ordering pizza and watching a movie. By midnight Sara would have to be at work, but until then they had time for themselves, unless she was called in earlier which had happened two or three times when they had met, causing a bit of frustration on both sides, but it was not like Sara could have turned down Grissom's order to come in early, reasoning it with hanging out with Greg.

Actually, she had not told anybody about their relationship. On the other hand, it was not like she was keeping it secret. Being asked she had mentioned several times that she had spent time with Greg; she was not hiding it, but it was not like they were making out in the parking lot of the lab either.

They were not supposed to work together, but there was not a single rule that they could not see each other off work. And if there had been, Sara would not have cared anyway anymore. In her opinion they were making Greg miserable enough with the unfair transfer back to DNA, they could not tell him what to do in his free time as well. And if Ecklie ever dared to say anything against it, she would… Sara did not really know what she would do, but she would think of something.

She arrived in front of Greg's apartment, ringing once at the door. She waited for some moments and when he did not open the door, she rang again, wondering if he was even at home and not at work anymore. He had told her he would be home in time, but there was not any guarantee that he did not get any last minute samples to work.

Again she waited for some moments and was already considering leaving, when the door suddenly opened after all. Sara's expression turned to a frown when she saw Greg who did not look too happy to see her.

"Sara."

He said it as if it was surprising or even unwelcome that she was there in front of his door.

"Uh, can I come in?" she asked, grimacing lightly that she actually had to ask this question. She wondered what was wrong with him.

"That's not really good today, you know," Greg replied, not even coming out of the flat to her.

"No, I don't know," she returned slightly irritated.

Sara still did not know why he was like this, but she was turning rather angry now. If he did not want her here, he could have mentioned that earlier, when they were talking on the phone for example, when they were agreeing to meet actually.

"Greg, what's wrong?" she questioned, her investigative sense winning over the feeling of anger now.

"Nothing," he answered simply, "I just want you to leave."

Sara tried to hide the look of hurt that must have crossed her face. She could have just left now, but she was not going to let him get away with this so easily.

"Greg Sanders, tell me what is wrong," she demanded, moving forward to get into the apartment. He would not shut the door into her face, would he? He blocked her way though, and Sara stopped dead, staring at him angrily.

"Just go," he told her.

He should have known that telling her what to do was only making her more determined to not listen to it, but to find out what was wrong with him.

"No, I won't, before you tell me what's going on." Her voice was growing louder.

Greg looked as if he was losing his patience.

"Sara, for the last time, go!"

Sara reached out to take his hand, willing to calm him down, making him talk to her, but he grabbed it and pushed her away, so that she almost bumped into the wall behind her, before he shut the door into her shocked face.

Sara stared at the closed door for some moments, pressing her fingernails into her palms, the pain telling her that she was actually awake and that this had really just happened. Greg had thrown her out, without even so much as an explanation, had pushed her away, physically even, apparently not caring if he hurt her.

Of course, it had always been a possibility that things between them were not going to work out. Relationships failed all the time. But Sara had not expected it to happen here and now. And she had certainly not predicted that it would happen this way, had not thought Greg would treat her this way, like the garbage he threw into a can.

Sara felt like kicking Greg's front door in anger, but did not do it. She felt like crying, but did not want it. Instead she finally turned on her heals, hurrying down the flights of stairs she had come up earlier. If the entrance door of the apartment complex had not fallen heavily into its lock by itself, she would have slammed it shut.

On the way to her car she eventually started to cry. She cried for the thing between them that was lost, and maybe even more so for the friendship that was gone for good. And because she was hurt. She would probably never admit it, but being treated like this, by Greg even more so, had hurt her in her innermost feelings.

She sat in her car for a while, letting the tears fall freely, breaking her head about what she had done wrong. She had thought they were happy with each other; she had certainly been. She had thought she loved Greg enough.

The only thing she had not been able to do was giving him his job back, which she had deeply regretted. And maybe he blamed her for it, but this could not be the reason, she did not believe that. So it had to be herself. She had to be the reason. She was not even worth an explanation from him.

Sara pondered about it, and emotionally she was going more and more from sadness to anger. After everything she had done for him, after she had laid so much trust in him, he was acting like this. She had risked her job for him, and he was treating her like this, not even caring if she was hurt, colliding with that wall. She had not been hurt, but his taking it into account made her both angry and sad.

Sara did not know how long she sat there, thinking, but finally she picked up her cell phone, rubbing her eyes with the other hand. She dialed a familiar number, leaning back in the driver's seat and taking a deep breath, hoping that she would not sound as upset anymore as she felt.

It took a moment before the person she was calling picked up, but Sara was relieved when she finally heard his voice.

"Brass."

"It's Sara," she started, trying to sound calm. "I need you to send somebody over to Greg."

**TBC**


	14. Chapter 14

**_I can't really say if you like where this story is going, since there was kinda a lack of response lately. If you like the chapter, I'd love to hear what you like about it. If you don't like it, I'd like to hear what you did not like. Feedback makes better and faster writing. :)_**

**_This chapter makes this story my longest fic so far. lol_**

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**Chapter 14**

Sara had not sat in her car for long anymore, walking at first slowly, then quicker back to Greg's place. She did not dare to enter the apartment complex again, but paced in front of it nervously, hoping that Brass would turn up soon.

If her theory was right, Greg was in danger.

She had broken her head about it, had tried to find an explanation for Greg's strange behavior, especially clinging to the fact that it had been so uncharacteristically for him who was unusually caring and sweet, a feature he did not even lose completely when he was angry.

He had kicked her out, forced her to leave without an explanation. But as his behavior could not be completely random, there had to be an explanation, Sara had thought. She had not been able to think of a reason why he would be angry at her. Of course, it did not mean there was no reason, but she had not been able to come up with one, and since Greg had talked to her only few hours before and there had been no indication then that he was irritated in any way, it seemed unlikely that this was the case. So he had made her leave although he was not angry at her, had even invited her over earlier.

Sara did not know if she had suspected this kind of explanation if the whole Charlie drama had never happened, but it had, and now it came up from the back of her mind that it was possible that Charlie was back. That he had come to Greg. That he was still at Greg's, and that this was the reason Greg had made her go.

Sara kept pacing up and down, glancing along the street to see if there were any patrol cars approaching, checking her cell phone again and again.

She could not believe that Greg had not told her that Charlie was at his place, if he actually was. He had had the opportunity. He could have told her, she would have called PD and everything would have been alright.

Sara sighed, realizing that she might be thinking this too easy. A lot of things could have still gone wrong. And maybe Greg had seen a valid reason for not telling her, but kicking her out instead, taking her anger into account. She could even be wrong with her suspicion after all.

But Greg had not wanted her to enter his apartment. He should have just told her what was wrong. Whatever it was, they would have found a solution. Instead, she was pacing up and down here, wondering what was up, possibly wasting precious time. Greg was stupid.

At this moment Sara could not hold herself back anymore, and entered the apartment building. She walked up the stairs, carefully and quietly now despite her feeling of urgency, not even knowing why she tried to be quiet.

She was one flight of stairs away from Greg's place, when she checked her cell phone again, which was still silent. Knowing she had to make a decision what to do, she walked up the last few stairs, standing in front of Greg's door now.

Carrying out her decision quickly she rang the door bell, wondering if Greg would even open the door this time. If Sara was right and Charlie was actually there, it was strange that he had opened the door at all the first time around. Maybe Charlie had made him open it. But why had he not come to the front door with Greg then? Sara did not think Charlie had been hidden somewhere by the door, despite Greg's uncharacteristically aggressive behavior.

Still she did not even know if she was right.

The moments passed while all these thoughts were swirling through her head and the door remained closed. Sara rang again, adding a knock at the door after some seconds. Still the door was not opened and Sara grew anxious.

She knocked several times. Greg had to open up. She would not leave again. Sara banged at the door, calling Greg's name additionally.

"Open that door, Greg. I know you're in there," she yelled, hoping it was loud enough for him to hear through the door, and that he would listen to her. "Whatever it is, please open the door," she asked. Then she was silent for some moments, trying to make out any sounds inside the apartment.

Sara did not hear anything, but was sure that Greg was still inside. She had been in view of the apartment complex for most of the time since he had made her leave earlier. It was not very likely that he had left and she had not seen him doing so.

Why did he not open that door? He had to know that she would not let him get away with this, even more so after the earlier episode. She knew he was in there.

The only valid reason she could think of why he did not open was that he was not able to, and this thought scared Sara. What if Charlie was really in there and had hurt Greg? Greg had told her that Charlie had always said that he would never hurt Greg which had helped Greg protecting her when Charlie wanted to get rid of her. But after all he had knocked Greg out to get him out of the way for the time being. He had not hurt him badly then, had apparently thought he was doing the best for Greg.

What was if he had acted similarly now? What if he had hurt Greg badly this time, maybe feeling betrayed? Charlie was certainly not informed about the procedures of the investigation, he could not know if Greg had talked, and what he had told.

Maybe Greg was lying in there, needing help, and she was standing in front of his door uselessly. Cursing she wondered where Brass was.

Sara wished she had her gun with her, but she had left it at home, never thinking she would need it when she visited Greg. Nevertheless she had to go in there. She could not wait any longer.

She banged at the door again, calling this time in a much more demanding tone.

"LVPD, open that door," she called whoever might be in the flat now, may it be Greg or a possible assailant, Charlie. "Open up, or we are going to break down this door," she added, knowing it was an empty promise, as she would not be able to get that door open by herself. She prayed that Brass was finally coming, but she had no feeling of time anymore, had no idea how long it was ago that she had called him.

She received no response from inside the apartment, so she brought out her cell phone again, dialing Brass' number, intending to demand that he hurried up. It was ringing at the other side of the line, when the door in front of Sara suddenly opened, and Sara let the phone glide into the bag of her jacket, not shutting off the call.

It was Greg who was standing in front of her again and Sara was relieved to see him, even though she was angry.

"Sara…" he started, looking agitated. "I told you to-"

Sara did not let him finish his sentence, but made a move to get into the apartment before he could shut the door into her face again. He tried to stop her but Sara was quicker and squeezed through the gap between Greg and the door. Greg caught her arm, stopping her from moving further into the apartment.

"Let me go," she spat out angrily, pulling her arm free from his grip. Greg's expression got even more agitated, but he was not looking at her, but past her.

"Look who's here," said someone behind her gleefully surprised. Sara would have recognized the voice at any time; it was one the two voices, besides Greg's, that she heard again and again in her nightmares.

She turned around and found Charlie standing only few feet away from her. He was holding the gun he had used during the abduction in his hand, but it was not aimed at anyone. Still Sara moved back a step, banging into Greg who held her until she had found her balance again.

"What are you doing here?" Sara asked, not knowing anything else to say.

"Visiting Greg," Charlie shrugged. "I didn't think I had the pleasure to see you again."

Sara would have thought that Charlie would be angry at the fact that she was alive, but he seemed to rather enjoy himself. She also wondered what Charlie thought about it that she and Greg obviously knew each other, despite what Greg had claimed. Maybe he did not care. Or perhaps he had not even noticed this contradiction, being not the brightest one.

"I had hoped I wouldn't have the displeasure to see you again," Sara returned irritated. "Or only behind bars."

She moved away from Greg who had still been standing close to her, but turned to him now, despite her unwillingness to turn her back on Charlie who was armed after all.

"What is Charlie doing here?" she asked Greg loudly.

"He just came by, Sara, I couldn't prevent it. I'm sorry. I tried to keep you from coming here. I tried to keep you out of it," he rambled.

Sara looked at the floor now, trying to hide her expression. "I can't believe you were into this after all." She glanced up to Greg, her expression angry now. "I trusted you and you and Charlie have been working together the whole time," she accused him, and hurt paired with a guilty expression crossed Greg's face. He searched Sara's gaze, but she avoided his, turning to Charlie again, wondering what she could do.

"Sara, I was not…" Greg tried to say, but Charlie interrupted him.

"Well, what are we going to do with her, Greg? She walked right into our arms, didn't she?" he smiled, stepping towards Sara, raising the gun briefly for emphasis.

"Leave her alone."

"No, Greg," Charlie shook his head. "You didn't want her the last time, but you should use the opportunity now, or do you rather want me having a go?" he declared.

Greg moved towards his former friend, getting in front of Sara.

She was kicking herself inwardly for having entered the place. Why had she done that? Why had she been so stupid? She had wanted to find out what was wrong, had wanted to protect Greg, that was the reason, but now she had to admit that she was the one who was in way greater danger here.

**TBC**


	15. Chapter 15

**_A/N: It was a first that I got a seat with a power socket for my laptop in the train today. And since this whole traveling home thing always takes more than long enough, I finally finished this chapter. Thanks for all your comments for the last chapter (a little complaining and suddenly… ;) ) They are encouragement and inspiration to write more._**

_**Here we go with the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. :D**_

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Greg felt cold. And he felt weak, helpless. He was right here at this place, his place, but the situation was not in his hands at all. It was once again in Charlie's. Greg had moved in front of Sara, knowing in the back of his mind that this would be futile, if Charlie actually went through with whatever he intended.

He had failed in keeping Sara away from here. When Charlie had suddenly turned up at his place, Greg's first thought had been her, knowing that she would come over later. Charlie had not left him out of his eyes for a second, even though he was not even mentioning the crime he had committed months ago, more or less together with Greg.

He had chatted about what he done in the meantime, had even told Greg that he had been in New York for a short time and wanted him to share stories, knowing Greg had lived there for a while. Greg had naturally felt uncomfortable, never being able to muster up any feeling of friendship for this man again.

Instead his mind had wandered to Sara, wondering how he could warn her, and at the same time be able to inform the PD about Charlie's appearance at his place. Greg had flinched when the door bell had rung, for he knew what it meant: Sara was there. Greg had not made any move to open the door, telling Charlie it was not important and that he did not want his visit disturbed.

After the bell had rung the second time Charlie had jumped up, declaring he would go and open up, if Greg did not want to, saying it was impolite to leave whoever was ringing standing outside. Greg had quickly refused that Charlie opened, agreeing that it was impolite and that he should go and open the door. Charlie had sat back at the couch and Greg had breathed a short sigh of relief.

The relief had not lasted for long as it was indeed Sara who was standing outside. Several options had been rushing through Greg's head. Calling the PD was the first one. His cell phone was lying in the living room. Any move to get it would make Charlie suspicious and would only increase the risk that he got to see Sara.

Telling Sara that Charlie was back had been another option. Telling her and asking her to call the police. It had seemed reasonable. But knowing Sara's character, he had been afraid that she would refuse to leave Greg alone with Charlie. This thought head been strengthened when she had been unwilling to leave although he had clearly told her so and in an openly cold manner. She had been insisted to find out what was wrong. If he had told her that Charlie was there, there would have been a good chance she would not have left. He had not been able to risk that.

Instead he had told her to leave, had been openly unfriendly, although he had had to realize quickly that this did not bring him very far with Sara, as it only made her angry, but not leave. When she had moved to get into the flat after all, he had pushed her out, shutting the door quickly. It was painful that he was doing this again. Doing what he had done when the whole mess had started, when Charlie had kidnapped her. Already then Greg had had to hurt her, only to protect her, and now he was doing it again. He had hoped that she would really leave now, whatever she would be thinking about him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Greg had hoped that Sara would realize after a while, a short while preferably, that something was off. She had already noticed that something was wrong of course, but Greg had hoped that she would come to the realization that Greg had made her leave for a good reason. She was smart; Greg had been confident that she would be able to count two and two together, as soon as she had calmed down that was.

Which had apparently not happened, for soon she had been back, knocking loudly against the door, making Greg's earlier and current explanations who had been at the door futile. He had heard her yelling at the other side of the door and it was obvious that Charlie was not missing this either.

Greg had finally had no other choice than to open the door; otherwise Charlie probably would have done so. Sara had been outside, more than agitated now and Greg had failed in keeping her outside, she brushing past him into the apartment quickly.

And things had not improved since then.

"Now, what's up with you, Greg?" Charlie wanted to know, when Greg did not make a move for Sara but had positioned himself in front of her instead.

Greg stared at him, answering after a few seconds, "I want you to let her go."

Sara was silent behind him. He could not see her, so he did not know how she was holding up.

"No, Greg. We can't do that," the other man shook his head.

Greg wished Charlie would stop using "we", as he did not see any bond between them anymore, and he was even less inclined to be connected with Charlie's actions in any way.

"Let us go," Sara said suddenly from behind, sounding determined. "And use the chance to leave, too."

Greg liked this first person plural use way better, but it surprised him that Sara spoke of "us" after her accusations against him earlier.

"Why would I need to let Greg go?" Charlie asked, somewhat confused. "He's free to go, but I thought we'd deal with you first."

Greg looked his former friend into the eyes.

"Sara, go. Now."

He could not see if Sara was following his order in any way, but Charlie moved forward, gun still in his hand.

"No, Greg, we can't let her go."

Greg grabbed Charlie's arm, stopping him effectively, and turned to look where Sara was. She had actually moved some paces into the direction of the front door, but had stopped dead now. She was looking at Greg with an unreadable expression.

"What is she doing here anyway?" Charlie suddenly questioned, frowning. "Why did she come here?" He was looking at Greg, not at Sara.

Greg wondered what he was supposed to answer, if anything at all. Saying that he and Sara were a couple seemed to be a bad idea. That Greg and Sara had known each other the whole time would certainly enrage Charlie, would at least raise the risk that he would panic which was connected with incalculable consequences.

On the other hand Greg made himself aware again what Charlie's original motive had been. It had been to get Greg the girl of his dreams, or at least a close resemblance. It had certainly not happened because of what Charlie had done, it was more so that it had happened despite everything that had occurred, but Greg and Sara had become a couple, so Charlie's original desired result was there.

Greg took a deep breath, hoping he was doing the right thing.

"Sara is here because we're together," he told Charlie, and hoping both that this would convince his friend to leave Sara alone and that Sara would believe it as well, Greg added, "I love her."

Charlie was clearly surprised. "Is it… her?" he wanted to know and Greg nodded.

"Wow, I had really gotten the right girl," Charlie seemed pleased.

"But you've done the wrong thing. You kidnapped her and hurt her, left her in that wood to die," Greg told him accusingly.

"I didn't really want her to die…," Charlie returned almost apologetic.

Greg had a different opinion there; Charlie had wanted to kill Sara, getting rid of her. He had obviously not been able to kill her by his own hand, so he had left her to die, but Greg could certainly not say that Charlie had cared whether Sara died or lived. He was not going to tell Charlie that though, would certainly not remind him that he had wanted Sara dead indeed.

"I know you did not want her to die," he lied instead. "And you don't want to hurt her now either. So let her go, please."

"You think it was wrong what I did, don't you?" Charlie asked.

Greg nodded earnestly.

"I was afraid you would see it like that," Charlie added, sighing.

"I told you from the very beginning that you have to let her go," Greg reminded him of the situation when he had found Sara in the trunk of Charlie's car.

"I just didn't want us to get caught-," Charlie was interrupted when there was loud knocking at the door.

Greg prayed that Charlie would not lose his nerves now. He turned around and saw that Sara was about to open the door. Greg was ready to stop Charlie from whatever he might be doing.

But Charlie did not move. Sara opened the door, backing away from it quickly, pressing herself against the wall next to it, watching Brass and two other police officers rushing into the apartment.

It went all very fast that Charlie was disarmed and apprehended. Greg hardly noticed Sara coming over to him, thinking she was still by the door. But then she grabbed his arm and Greg looked at her confused, while one of the officers was leading Charlie away.

"Sara…"

She was still holding onto him, looking at him earnestly. She glanced briefly to Brass, before she reached into the bag of her jacket, taking out her cell phone, shutting it off.

"Did you have anybody on the phone?" Greg asked wondering.

"Brass," Sara replied shortly. "I had called him."

"What you said… about Charlie and me working together the whole time…," Greg started, hoping she would believe him that it was not true what she had accused him of. He did not need to finish his sentence though.

"Greg," Sara interrupted him and Greg stopped speaking, his heart beating rapidly.

"I know you were not in this," she told him sincerely, letting her hand glide down his arm, entangling her hand in his.

**TBC**


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N: So, yeah, I am sad seeing this story coming to an end. It was certainly very interesting to write and developed during writing into a way longer story than originally thought. As I have said before, this is the longest story I have written so far and one with quite a bit of feedback (for my standards :P). So I'm quite happy how this story turned out. The ending isn't as fluffy as I thought it would be. I can't get away from angst completely, as it seems. And maybe I've left some open doors for the future.**_

_**Thanks for reading and replying!**_

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**Chapter 16**

"Sara," Brass called her from behind, and she turned around to him, still holding Greg's hand. "Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm fine."

Brass looked at her for a moment, as if to gauge the truth of her statement. Then his look went on to Greg. "You're alright, too?"

"Yeah," Greg confirmed.

"I want both of you down at the station right away," Brass said seriously. On Greg's mixture of a confused and worried expression, he added, "I don't want to take any chances with you two. We've seen this Charlie guy was threatening you with a gun, but we want to make sure to nail him, so we need your statements, you know," he offered as an explanation. Both Greg and Sara nodded.

While Greg was getting his jacket and locking the door of his apartment, Sara and Brass walked ahead out onto the street. Once they were out of Greg's earshot, Brass turned to Sara, still talking quietly.

"You gave me quite something on the phone," he said. "What was this talk about Sanders working together with his friend?"

Sara stopped dead. "Greg wasn't in this. I didn't mean…" she said quickly. "I just said it because Charlie was around. I didn't want him to know that Greg had helped me and everything. I didn't want him to do anything to Greg…"

Brass held up his arms. "Okay, I sort of figured that, but it wasn't warming my heart to hear that over the phone. I didn't like the idea that Sanders was in it after all." He paused for a moment. "Especially because you seem to be very fond of him." His formulation was certainly a big understatement, Sara thought silently.

"How long has this been going on?" Brass wanted to know, while they could see Greg coming out of the building.

"A while," Sara replied shortly.

Greg was coming up to them, smiling faintly. His expression turned more serious all of a sudden, his gaze at something behind Brass and Sara. She turned to see what he was looking at, and saw Nick taking his kit out of the trunk of his parked car. He walked up to them quickly.

"What are you doing here?" Sara asked confused.

"I was called to secure evidence from a crime scene," Nick explained earnestly, looking at Greg who suddenly felt very much like said crime scene.

"Officer Stevens has the gun that was seized from the suspect," Brass told Nick calmly and the Texan nodded, walking off to the waiting police officer. "I'm off to the station then," Brass added, turning to Greg and Sara. "Do you need a lift?"

Greg shook his head. "No, we'll take Sara's car… I guess."

Sara nodded, and Brass left, while Sara seemed inclined to wait for Nick, much to Greg's dismay. He rather wanted to avoid the Texan at this moment, guessing that his sentiments towards Greg were not the best right now. Not wanting to leave without Sara, he had to wait as well though, seeing Nick finally coming up to them again, carrying the seized gun in an evidence bag.

"So after all I've heard you're not here to work a scene," Nick started, and looking at Greg, he added, "Isn't this where you live?" He pointed at the apartment complex behind them. Greg nodded.

"Charlie was here," Sara explained him, although Greg guessed that Nick had already had a general picture of what had happened. "He was arrested."

"Are you hurt?" Nick asked her worriedly, looking up and down her body as if to check for any injuries.

"I'm fine," Sara ensured him calmly.

Nick turned to Greg now. "Why do I have the feeling that every time something happens to Sara, you're around?" he sounded rather harsh.

Sara looked at Greg quickly. She was not exactly sure what had befallen Nick, had already wondered in the last few weeks why Nick had not seemed to be able to be friendly with Greg again, or why he acted so coldly towards the other man in the first place.

Nothing of what had happened had been Greg's fault. In the first time Sara had not been able to make that very clear, since she and Nick had not really been on speaking terms either, just like she had not been with most of her co-workers, who had turned away in disappointment, even though it had never been as bad for her as it had been for Greg.

After a few weeks people had been forgiving to her, mostly because she had been the victim of everything after all; people had started to care more for her. And this was probably one of the origins of Nick's ostracizing of Greg. He blamed Greg for what had happened. Maybe just because it was his friend who had done it. Maybe because he thought that Greg had not done enough to hinder his friend. Maybe even because he did not believe that Greg had not known about it.

Nick felt protectively towards Sara, and that she had been in danger, threatened by Greg's friend again, while Greg had been around, confirmed him in laying the blame on Greg.

Greg was not looking at Nick, and he was avoiding Sara's gaze as well, who was trying to catch his, wanting to calm him.

"I'm sorry," Greg said. "I tried to make her leave-"

Nick clenched his jar.

"Nick, Greg protected me-"

"'_Protected'_. Without him this wouldn't have happened in the first place," Nick returned angrily.

Sara grabbed Greg's hand, if only to keep him from entering in that fight. She knew that Greg was not getting angry easily, but she did not want to see it happen here and now, on the street, in front of the police officers who were still here, securing the scene.

Catching Greg's gaze now, Sara gave him a calming look. "We have to get down to PD now. Brass wants our statement," she declared, hoping to postpone the fight, or preferably, avoid it altogether.

Nick shrugged, relaxing somewhat. Sara pulled Greg into the direction of her car, giving his hand a squeeze. A second later she realized that Nick had seen this, when he called after them.

"Since when has this been going on?" he wanted to know.

Sara ushered Greg forwards, turning halfway back to Nick.

"We'll talk later at the lab, okay?" She tried a faint smile and it did not fail its impact on Nick who nodded, almost returning her expression.

* * *

Greg did not look too happy, Sara thought, watching him browsing some journal. They were in the break room of the lab after they had just come from giving their statements to Brass.

Greg certainly did not look forward to any discussion with Nick, Sara guessed. She was ready to take things into her hands there, but she knew as well that she could not always step between any disagreements between the two men. Despite that she was the center of the conflict. Or maybe just because she was.

Sara stood up, having another matter on her agenda as well. Greg looked up from the journal.

"I want to have a talk with Grissom," Sara explained. "I guess it will still take some time until Nick shows up."

Greg sighed. "Do I want him to show up?" He looked at her openly. "He won't like it any better than the rest of the lab."

Of course Sara knew what Greg meant. In the lab they had been told to keep away from each other at work. And while that did not mean it could be forbidden that they saw each other off work, it was not going to help them professionally that they were a couple. It was not going to help them with their co-workers either. Sara doubted that Catherine, or Grissom for that matter, would lighten up on her for being together with Greg. Just like Nick had not seemed enthusiastic when he learned that Greg and Sara were seeing each other.

That issue she was going to tackle though. Right after she had spoken with Grissom that was.

"Just wait here for me," she told Greg on her way out of the room, "I don't think I'll take long." She looked at him with a gauging gaze.

"Okay," he said with a weak smile. Sara left, frowning slightly, wondering why Greg was so low in spirits. They could be happy that both of them were fine; Charlie was in custody, they had made their statements against him. In short, the nightmare was finally coming to an end.

Sara stopped in her movements, having reached Grissom's office. The door was open, so she looked into the room and Grissom caught her sight.

"Sara."

"Hey, Grissom," she said carefully.

"Are you alright?" he wanted to know, motioning her to sit down.

Sara nodded. "Yeah, Greg and I… we're both fine."

Grissom nodded.

"Why I'm here… I…"

Sara cursed herself. She had planned this conversation ahead, so why was she searching for the right words now? Grissom did not look like he was going to help her out.

"I want Greg back at our shift." She realized that this was a somewhat blunt way to ask for it. She waited for Grissom's reaction. His face was unmoving for the most part though.

"Nothing's been Greg's fault. You know that. It was my idea to…lie, not his, as you know. And now that Charlie's been arrested…" Sara wondered if there was even a point in her talking any longer.

"Ecklie was clear about this," Grissom finally returned.

"Ecklie?" Sara asked loudly. "Since when do you care about Ecklie? If you'd always do what he says, I wouldn't be sitting here, wouldn't be working here anymore, you know that." Sara knew that she could actually be happy that both she and Greg were still working at the lab. It would have been an easy task to get rid of the both of them. They had presented the perfect opportunity.

"You know that you can ask for Greg's transfer back. You just don't need to assign us both to the same case, so we don't work together and-"

"Okay," Grissom said simply. When he saw Sara's surprised expression, he added, "I'm going to do that."

She smiled. "Thanks."

"You know that you'll have to testify against Charlie though and if they'll drag out Greg's involvement and everything… if you two are working together it will look even worse," Grissom told her and Sara sighed.

"I know." She stood up. "I'll just get back to Greg: He's waiting in the break room," she explained, turning to go.

"Sara," Grissom called, and she turned her head back to him. "I'm glad you're alright."

She smiled briefly and marched off, walking quickly back to the break room. What she saw - and heard – in the distance made her walk even faster. Nick was there with Greg, yelling at him right now, although Sara was not able to make out his words. Greg was answering back but not loud enough for Sara to understand what he was saying.

She came closer and was now able to catch Nick's words.

"… so you let _your friend _kidnap her and then you dare to make a move on her? You think now you've got what you wanted?"

Sara knew that Nick knew that it had not been like that but apparently this did not hinder Nick accusing Greg.

"It wasn't like that. And it was Sara who came to me. I would've never-" Greg returned, but stopped when he saw Sara entering the room. Both men turned to her.

"Sara, tell me it is not going on what I think is," Nick asked her, the anger only slowly fading from his voice.

"Greg and I are together," Sara stated firmly. Nick's expression showed his disapproval. "We've both made mistakes… and I'm sorry about that… but I'm not going to make the mistake to let anything come between us, not matter what you think." Her voice was steady when she said this and it was obviously not lost on Nick, for he nodded.

"I think it's a mistake though," he told her, but more calmly now.

"That's your opinion, not mine," Sara returned.

"I just don't want to see you hurt again and again, Sara." Nick moved to leave.

Sara nodded finally. "Thanks." She looked at Greg who had watched the discussion clearly uncomfortably. His expression did show neither happiness about Sara standing up for him, nor sorrow about Nick's disapproval, but mainly uncertainty, and still guilt.

She did not know if Nick was already out of sight, but she did not care. She strode over to Greg, taking him into a hug, resting her head on his shoulder. He felt warm and Sara smiled.

"It's alright," she ensured him.

"I wish things were like they used to be."

Sara drew back a little and saw that Greg was looking into the direction where Nick had left. She knew that he was hurting over lost friendships.

"We wouldn't be together," Sara reminded him, but realized that even trying to wage if this was worth it, was a futile attempt. Anything was certainly worth it that they were together now, that they had what they had with each other, but it did not make other loses less painful

She let go of him and Greg sat down, looking at her earnestly.

"I want to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"If I had told you that Charlie was at my place, would you have left and called the police?"

Sara looked at him silently. She had wondered about this question herself.

"I want you to tell me when something's wrong, not tell me to go away," she answered avoiding replying in a direct manner. Greg lifted his eyebrows. Sara sighed. "I guess I would've been stubborn, would've refused to go anyway… maybe… maybe I would've left, but… I don't know," she admitted. "I can sort of understand that you wanted me to go, what you said… it was still stupid though. I won't let you get away with that." During the last part she smiled though.

Greg smiled, too. "I didn't think you would."

**The End**


End file.
